Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean - Regional Cooperation

The Cooperation for Development Program for Latin America and the Caribbean covers a region characterized by its cultural, ethnological and linguistic diversity. To reflect this reality, a number of integration associations and organizations coexist in the region:

Andean Community of Nations (CAN)

http://www.comunidadandina.org

The Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and its constituent bodies maintain a high level of dialogue and cooperation with WIPO, in the area of intellectual property. The members of the Andean Community are: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. These countries are bound by common legislation in the field of industrial property, copyright and related rights, and breeder's rights. 

Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

http://www.caricom.org

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is formed by Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. WIPO also maintains a high level of dialogue and cooperation with this organization.

Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR)

http://www.mercosur.org

The Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) groups another important sub-region of the continent. Its members are: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The main objective of this meeting was to exchange information regarding the situation of intellectual property systems in the participating countries and to identify priority areas of cooperation amongst the National Offices, as well as to determine specific cooperation activities to which WIPO could lend its support in the future.

Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

http://www.oecs.org

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) groups the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the territories of: Montserrat, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands. Following an initiative from the Government of Saint Lucia, the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean cooperated in the organization of the:

WIPO Intellectual Property Symposium for the Judiciary of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Gros Islet, St. Lucia, June 28 and 29, 2001

Secretariat for Central American Integration (SIECA)

http://www.sieca.org.gt

The Secretariat for Central American Integration (SIECA) groups the following countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua. In cooperation with the Secretariat, the Bureau organizes a number of intellectual property promotion activities, awareness-building seminars and advisory missions.

Forthcoming activities

Meeting of Consultation with the Secretariat for Central American Integration (SIECA) on Harmonization of Trademark Law, in the framework of the establishment of a Central American Customs Union, Guatemala City, August 30 to 31, 2001

Other regional and sub-regional organizations with which the Bureau maintains a wide dialogue and exchange of information are: