WIPO Members Discuss Budget, Projects, Finance, Human Resources This Week

World Intellectual Property Organization member states are expected to take a set of decisions this week on the future budget of the organisation, and have to bridge a number of differences on programmes before the General Assembly taking place later this month.

The 21st session of the WIPO Program and Budget Committee (PBC) is taking place from 9-13 September. The outcome of the PBC will be passed on to the annual WIPO General Assembly, from 23 September to 2 October.

In his introductory remarks, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said the 20th session of the PBC in July “resulted in a very engaged, constructive, intensive and comprehensive reading of the draft program and budget proposal.” At that session, from 8-12 July, the secretariat was requested to submit a revised proposed program and budget for the 2014/2015 biennium for the committee’s consideration (IPW, WIPO, 14 July 2013).

Four Sets of Issues on the Agenda

The agenda of the PBC is “extremely heavy, once again,” Gurry said, with four sets of issues. One is “the comprehensive reporting to the PBC by our oversight architecture.” The oversight body of WIPO is composed of an Internal Audit and Oversight Division (IAOD), an external auditor, and an Independent Advisory Oversight Committee.

Another issue is the performance and financial review, he said, including the utilisation of financial reserves and a report on human resources, followed by the draft program and budget, and a comprehensive update on all major WIPO projects, he said.

Gurry also announced a staff change since the last session of the PBC. Philippe Favatier, chief financial officer (Controller) retired, he said, after 20 years in WIPO’s service and 5 years as controller. Chitra Narayanaswamy took over (on 1 September 2013) as director, program planning and finance (Controller), Program Planning and Finance Department.

The draft agenda [pdf] was discussed and finally adopted after some disagreement arose on how to approve agenda items, whether to approve them one-by-one or approve them as a whole at the end of the session.

Some developing countries, such as Algeria for the African Group, said many subjects were interlinked and approving items at the end of the session was a prudent approach. Developed countries favoured the procedure followed in the last session, with approval of each item when consensus was reached.

It was decided that after each item the member states would decide whether to adopt or provisionally adopt it.

Meanwhile, Brazil, on behalf of the Development Agenda Group (DAG), asked that a document from the 19th session (10-14 September 2012) be added to the agenda. The document [pdf] is a proposed definition of “development expenditure” by the chair of the PBC.

Concerns: External Offices, SMEs, Marrakesh Treaty

Although it was not the preferred approach of the chair of the PBC, Hisham Badr , former permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations and now assistant foreign minister for multilateral affairs and international security, some groups delivered opening statements in which they voiced concerns and requests for clarification by the WIPO secretariat.

India, on behalf of the Asia and Pacific Group said that Program 30 concerning small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was of particular importance for developing countries. India thanked the secretariat for reinstating the SME programme in the proposed program and budget for 2014-2015, “as requested by a large number of member states,” the delegate said.

However, the Indian delegate said, the reinstating of Program 30 “has not been done according to the request by member states.” They had asked that the program be strengthened with additional financial resources, technical expertise and manpower. The proposed strategy by the secretariat, according to the delegate, has created more confusion and complexity.

The group also asked that WIPO take the “necessary steps to rectify the lack of equitable geographical representation” in its staff. This was echoed by the DAG and the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC).

The proposed program and budget includes a proposal to establish five new WIPO external offices: China, Russia, the United States, and two in Africa. This stirred discussions during the last session of the PBC, in particular on the procedure to choose from an initial list of over 20 candidate countries.

According to WIPO, by July 2013, the director general had received 23 official requests by countries to establish new external offices : Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chile, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Tunisia, Turkey, Senegal, South Africa, South Korea, Romania, Russia, United States, and Zimbabwe.

The Indian delegate said member states during the 20th session requested the secretariat to produce two separate documents on external offices: an information paper, including background documentation, and an in-depth study to address all issues related to this matter.

However, she said, the document issued by WIPO (Strategy for WIPO External Offices) contains both the information paper and the in-depth study and only addressed parts of the concerns of member states on the subject. It leaves out, the delegate said, for example, a procedure and a set of criteria for the establishment of new WIPO external offices.

The request for clear criteria for the creation of new external offices was also supported by the DAG and GRULAC. The delegate of Trinidad and Tobago on behalf of the group underlined the need to include new offices in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Separately, Brazil on behalf of the DAG deplored the fact that the implementation of the WIPO Development Agenda had not been put forward by Gurry in the set of priorities presented in his foreword to the proposed program and budget.

The Brazilian delegate also said that in Program 3 (Copyright and related rights) the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty [pdf] to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled should be the main priority for the next biennium (IPW, WIPO, 1 July 2013). The delegate said the implementation of the treaty required capable human resources, not only in member states but also in authorised entities. The implementation of the treaty was also stressed by GRULAC.

Heavy Agenda, Number of Reports

The PBC has a number of documents to go through. The main one being the proposed program and budget for the biennium 2014/2015 which details objectives, performance measures and budgetary planning for all proposed program activities, according to WIPO. It includes some 30 programmes.

Unlike other United Nations agencies, WIPO is mostly self-financing through its intellectual property services, such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the Madrid system for the international registration of marks, and the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. According to WIPO, the remainder comes primarily from WIPO’s arbitration and mediation services and from member state contributions.

The PBC deals with a number of other issues, in particular audit and oversight. Several reports are expected to be presented to member states, including one from the WIPO Independent Advisory Oversight Committee (IAOC), a report by the external auditor, an annual report on human resources, a report on the implementation of the Joint Inspection Unit recommendations for the review of WIPO legislative bodies, the status of the utilization of reserves, the final report on the implementation of the WIPO strategic realignment program, a progress report on the new conference hall project and new construction project, a summary of the annual report of the director of the internal audit and oversight division, and a report on the implementation of cost efficiency measures.