Statement by India at the 19th session of WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on GRTKF (18 July 2011) Statement by India at the 19th session of WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on GRTKF (18 July 2011)
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Statement by India at the 19th session of WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on GRTKF (18 July 2011)

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 Mr. Chairman,

 

 01.     The Indian delegation is very happy to see you chairing this session of the Inter-Governmental Committee, and would like to begin by thanking you for taking on board several suggestions presented by India with regard to the work plan of this IGC session. We look forward to working together with you and other delegations towards a successful and productive outcome of this session. We associate ourselves with the statement made by Ambassador Dian Triyansyah Djani, the distinguished Permanent Representative of Indonesia, on behalf of the Group of Like-Minded countries wherein he presented the outcome of the Bali meeting.

 

02.     Since the two-year mandate of the IGC is coming up for renewal, this is a good time to take stock of the progress achieved and the work that lies ahead. The 2009 WIPO General Assembly had mandated a two-year period up till September 2011 for text-based negotiations to finalize a legal instrument or legal instruments on Traditional Cultural Expressions, Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources. In our view, we have made good use of the mandate and have made considerable progress on the TCE and TK texts. There is now a broad, emerging agreement on several provisions that are common to both the TCE and TK texts, such as the draft articles on Formalities, Term of Protection, National Treatment, Trans-border Protection, Consistency with existing international obligations, Management of Rights, Sanctions and Remedies. On the other hand, there are continuing differences on some key articles, which lay the foundations of these legal texts and are of paramount importance.  In our view, the following three are vital and reaching agreement on them is crucial - the Subject-matter of Protection, Scope of Protection and Beneficiaries. On Genetic Resources, we have made a beginning by identifying concrete options for defining the objectives and principles of a potential legal instrument. However, considerable work lies ahead, in terms of evolving a text based on these agreed objectives and principles.



03.     Keeping in view this critical stage of negotiations in the IGC, the Bali meeting of the Like-Minded Countries was convened with the objective of consolidating LMC’s common positions on the three issues under negotiation by reducing diverging options wherever possible, with a view to helping clean up the text and expedite the text-based negotiations.  The Bali meeting was noteworthy for two reasons: first and foremost, it resulted in the development of a text on Genetic Resources, which is the first such draft text to be presented to the IGC for consideration; and second, it sought to narrow the options on TK and TCE which, we hope, would lead to a more expeditious consideration of these articles in the negotiations this week. We look forward to constructive engagement of all Member States and Observers with these substantive contributions of the LMCs, and hope that they will provide the necessary impetus to the process.

 

04.     With regard to ‘Future Work’ of the IGC, we extend our full support to the Bali recommendations on the way forward. It is imperative that the mandate of the IGC be extended with a view to convening a Diplomatic Conference in 2013; and that the IGC be allowed to continue its work with adequate number of special sessions in addition to the four regular sessions in the next biennium, so as to enable this Committee to finalize the texts in a timely manner.  Accordingly, we hope that the upcoming session of the WIPO General Assemblies will adopt a detailed work-programme, consisting of both the regular and special sessions of the IGC for the next biennium, as necessary. 

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

05.     As one of the countries most affected by misappropriation of TK and bio-piracy, India has been at the forefront of the developing countries' demand for legally-binding instrument/s for the protection of GRTKF. We look forward to frank and focused discussions on these and other issues during this important session of the IGC, leading to a productive and successful outcome.

 

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