At the opening of the thirty-second session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), represented by the delegation of Brazil, welcomed reports highlighting WIPO’s contributions to sustainable development goals, particularly emphasizing inclusivity in intellectual property (IP) systems. While acknowledging progress in implementing the WIPO Development Agenda, GRULAC underscored the need to focus on intellectual property flexibilities and recommended better evaluation mechanisms. They emphasized the importance of mainstreaming development in WIPO’s work and expressed expectations for the upcoming Diplomatic Conference on IP to result in a binding instrument.
Read GRULAC statement below:
COMMITTEE ON DEVELOPMENT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (CDIP)
THIRTY-SECOND SESSION – GENEVA, APRIL 29 TO MAY 3, 2024
GROUP OF LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES (GRULAC)
Opening Statement
Mr. Director General, Madam President,
The delegation of Brazil, on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), is pleased to see you leading the work of this Committee and we wish you every success. We also want to thank the secretary for organizing this meeting and for all the documents that will support our deliberations this week.
We appreciate the report presented by the Deputy Director General that puts us in context on WIPO’s contribution to the implementation of the sustainable development goals and related targets (document CDIP/32/3); on information sharing sessions on women and IP (document CDIP/32/4); on women and IP: internal and external activities, strategic direction (document CDIP/32/9) and also the project completion report on identification and utilization of inventions in the public domain (document CDIP/32/5 ). Such reports show greater collective awareness around the importance of expanding the benefits of IP to all regions of the planet, especially creators, women, indigenous peoples, local communities, MSMEs and governments in the developing world.
Madam President,
GRULAC, as a demander and promoter, since its inception, of the WIPO Development Agenda, assigns special importance to the work of this Committee, as the appropriate forum to guarantee an Intellectual Property system that is inclusive and that serves as an instrument for development, within the framework of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, agreed upon by the United Nations.
We take note of the fourteenth progress report on the implementation of the 45 Recommendations; document CDIP/32/2. As highlighted by said document “the deep connection between IP and development underpins the foundations of the Development Agenda (DA), which, since its approval, has triggered a continuous process of integration of the development dimension in programs and WIPO activities. In this regard, we appreciate the publication of Annex I – “Links between the 45 DA Recommendations and the WIPO Expected Results for 2022-26”. We recognize, thus, the efforts in areas such as capacity development, the registration of collective marks of local entrepreneurship as a transversal axis of economic development, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), raising awareness about the gender gap in IP and assistance to national intellectual property offices.
However, we find it necessary to pay more attention to the recommendations related to intellectual property flexibilities, especially through indicators to evaluate the impact and efficiency of the implementation of the Development Agenda, as highlighted by document CDIP/29/6, prepared by the Secretariat and establishes that “to date, the Committee has not adopted any decision in this regard and the impact of the AD has not yet materialized compared to the high expectations placed on it”. For GRULAC, the Secretariat’s proposal in document CDIP/29/6 is, in this regard, an important step forward, as it includes options for reporting and review. Since the adoption of the Development Agenda in 2007, WIPO has been implementing its recommendations, integrating the agenda’s points into numerous substantive programs.
Madam President,
The development agenda is an opportunity to mainstream the theme of development in all areas of WIPO’s work by effectively assisting Member States, especially developing countries. Taking into account the importance of normative work along with assistance and technical cooperation, we hope to promote more substantive discussions on IP and Development, based on debates, proposals for international instruments and the search for global institutional solutions for the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda, with the aim of improving the impact of the work of this Committee in the work of this Organization.
Before concluding, Madam President, GRULAC cannot shy from this moment and audience in highlighting the group’s expectations that the upcoming Diplomatic Conference on IP, GR and ATK will result in a binding instrument that establishes a minimum standard for the obligation to disclose access to GR and ATK. Such a multilateral and collective outcome would not only accomplish WIPO’s Development Agenda recommendation 18, but also constitutes a milestone in the transformation of words of commitment into concrete actions for the benefit of the development world and especially to the efficacy, transparency and quality of the patent system.
I conclude this intervention by reiterating the commitment of our group to the work of this Committee; you can count on our proactive and constructive participation.
Thank you very much, Madam President!
Kind regards,
GRULAC-WIPO Regional Coordination
