A new draft text on future work was issued this morning by a facilitator to the discussions of the World Intellectual Property Organization committee seeking to protect genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
The draft recommendation [pdf] including the programme of work was submitted by Ian Goss of Australia, acting as “friend of the chair,” and tasked with chairing informal discussions on the recommendations that the committee will make to the upcoming WIPO General Assembly in September.
According to the document, presented this morning in plenary by Goss, the work programme would include three sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).
Two of those sessions – one on traditional knowledge (TK) and one on traditional cultural expressions (TCEs or folklore) – would take place in February, with one on genetic resources (GRs) in April. A three-day cross–cutting, stock-taking session, just like the current session, would be held in June.
The work programme includes a high-level meeting of ambassadors or senior capital-based officials “to share views on key policy issues” at the June session. This issue had not gathered consensus yet, according to Goss, who underlined the fact that this document was his own drafting, after consultations with regional group coordinators. He also remarked on the “friendly nature of the consultations.”
The document does not specify any dates for the convening of a high-level negotiating meeting (diplomatic conference), which is still under discussion.
After the presentation in plenary, delegates went back to discussing the draft document on recommendations. Also under parallel discussions are the three draft instrument texts on GRs, TK and TCEs, to determine if some language on similar issues can be harmonised.