IGC Special Session Summary

September 12, 2023

Over 500 participants, including Member States and representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, industry and civil society, met for five days in a Special Session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC Special Session), from September 4 to 8, 2023.  The session was the last opportunity for the negotiators to revise the substantive articles of the future international instrument on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge ahead of the Diplomatic Conference in 2024.

The IGC Special Session aimed to further close any existing gaps in the text of the draft international instrument on genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge to a sufficient level. 

On the last day of the Session, the IGC agreed on a number of revisions to the substantive articles of the text, which marked progress in the negotiations.  The IGC decided that the revised text be transmitted to the Preparatory Committee of the Diplomatic Conference to conclude an International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources as the substantive articles of the Basic Proposal for the Diplomatic Conference.

Thanks to the recent contributions of the Governments of Australia and Mexico to the WIPO Voluntary Fund, four representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities participated in this session.