Policy Advisory Commission Decides to Set up Task Force

Geneva, April 15, 1999
Press Releases PR/1999/166

The Policy Advisory Commission (PAC), set up by the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris, to advise him on matters related to policy-making, decided on Thursday at the end of its inaugural meeting to set up a task force to consider, amongst others, three issues: the text of a possible declaration or charter on intellectual property, a study on the balance between private intellectual property rights and the public good and the economic and social developmental dimension of intellectual property, especially for developing countries.

The PAC, a purely advisory body composed of high-level and experienced policy-makers from the world of politics, diplomacy, law and public administration, elected HRH Prince El-Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, as Chairman. Twenty-three members of the PAC participated in the inaugural meeting. These included Mr. Julius Nyerere, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr. Fidel Ramos, former President of the Philippines, Mr. Song Jian, Vice-Chairman of the People's Political Consultative Conference of China, Mr. Abdelbaki Hermassi, Minister for Culture, Tunisia, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Kamla Persad- Bissessar, Minister for Legal Affairs, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Arai Hisamitsu, Vice-Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan, Mr. Martin Bangemann, Member of the European Commission for Industrial Affairs and Information and Telecommunications Technologies, Germany, and other distinguished personalities. A list of members is attached.

The PAC was set up by the Director General to advise him on ways of achieving breakthroughs and a quantum leap in leading the Organization into the 21st Century. Many members said that the existence of the PAC itself was a first breakthrough, since such a body with such a mandate was unprecedented in the century-long history of the Organization.

Dr. Idris lauded the first meeting of the PAC as a "great success". He described the talks as "fruitful, forward looking and frank." Dr. Idris said he wanted the PAC to be an independent forum that makes recommendations to the Director General.

Discussions focused on the critical role of intellectual property as a tool of economic development. During the talks, members called for the establishment of a vision first and transforming that vision into tangible benefits to the individual, using intellectual property as a tool. The impact of globalization on intellectual property was discussed as well as the necessity to engage and integrate all interested parties, including the private sector and civil society. The PAC underscored the role of intellectual property in facilitating the transfer of technology. Stressing the importance of public awareness initiatives at all levels, one member from a developing country expressed certainty that "intellectual property protection, if made widely known, will release the genius of our people." All members emphasized the critical need to implement extensive public awareness campaigns which reached out to young people in particular.

Emphasis was also placed on the need to depoliticize the intellectual property debate so that it is not seen as a question of "haves" against "have-nots". A crucial issue was how to approach intellectual property matters so that the protection of inventions and other creations should not be an end in itself, but serve a wider social and economic interest. The rights of inventors have to be balanced by wider considerations of the good of society so that inventions could benefit people as well as bring commercial gain to the inventor. At the same time, members felt that it was essential to avoid returning to the debate of the 1970s on whether intellectual property was beneficial to developing countries. The governments of developing countries have built infrastructures designed to ensure respect and protection of intellectual property rights. What is important is to ensure that they share in the benefits of such protection. It was felt that WIPO had an important global proactive role to play in respect of all the issues mentioned.

The PAC concluded with an agreement to set up a task force to consider the text of a possible Global Intellectual Property Charter or Declaration that would help place intellectual property in a wider economic, social and cultural context. This would recognize the emergence of intellectual property as a new critical factor of production like capital or manpower. At the same time, it could reaffirm the critical role intellectual property can play as a tool for economic development, in particular for developing countries. The task force would also look into elaborating a vision to define the new and future roles of intellectual property and WIPO.

The task force would also study the question of the use and abuse of intellectual property rights and the balance between private and public benefits. Emphasis was placed on the need to heighten international cooperation to promote intellectual property issues so that they can truly become a vital tool in wealth creation for the benefit of all peoples.

"Major challenges in the next century will require unprecedented levels of international cooperation and collaboration among nations and peoples of different levels of economic development, different cultures, different values," Dr. Idris said at the end of the meeting. He added "it is only through strong, open and mature relationships with all those interested in intellectual property protection that we can make true and lasting progress in the service of mankind."

Speaking at the end of the meeting, former President Ramos also underlined the importance of international cooperation for economic, social and cultural well-being. He said "I would like to emphasize the word 'sharing" of intellectual property rights in an ever changing high technology environment. This will necessitate the continuing search for a broad and responsive international framework for cooperation and integration."

HRH Prince El-Hassan of Jordan said he left the meeting with hope for the future. "I came here thinking of the problems of the costs of textbooks and software for students, of governments establishing domestic offices and agencies of training personnel, and so on. On the other hand, I came away from the meeting thinking we must be positive, we must think of a more active flow of foreign investment, higher quality for consumers, the enhancement of specific exports and the avoidance of sanctions."

About the inaugural meeting of the PAC, Prince El-Hassan said "I would like to go home feeling that we have launched here at this gathering a public awareness initiative." He added "but more important still we have spoken coherently and that we will commit ourselves, all of us...in moving from country to region to global comprehension and as we say in Arabic, comprehension leads to understanding."

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