. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/347/Add.2
10 June 2002
(02-3207)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS OF ART ICLE 27.3(b), RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
AND PROTECTION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND FOLKLORE
Information from Intergovernmental Organizations
Addendum
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
As agreed by the Council, at its meeting of 5 to 7 March 2002, the Secretariat contacted the
secretariats of the CBD, CGIAR, FAO, UNCTAD, UNEP, UPOV, WIPO and the World Bank, to
request them to provide updated information on their activities in relation to the agenda items on
review of the provisions of Article 27.3(b), relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the
Convention on Biological Diversity and protection of traditional knowledge and folklore.
The present document reproduces the information that the Secretariat has received from
UNCTAD.
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UNCTAD's work relating to Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement has focused on
traditional knowledge.  In February 2000 at UNCT AD's tenth Conference, member States decided to
address the protection of TK as part of UNCTAD's work in the area of trade and environment. In
UNCTAD, the emphasis has been on exchanging national experiences on policies and measures to
protect TK in a broad sense and on identifying policies to harness TK for trade and development.
Since UNCTAD X, there have been a number of activities - both intergovernmental and
technical cooperation.
In October 2000, UNCTAD Member States conv ened an Expert Meeting on Systems and
National Experiences for the Protection of Traditional Knowledge, Innovations and Practices.  Over250 experts from 80 countries participated, including representatives of governments, indigenous
groups, NGOs, IGOs, academia, private companies, and international agencies.  Some 50 papers on
country experiences were presented, most of which are now available on the UNCTAD Website
(www.unctad.org/trade_env).  These papers have been edited and revised and will be published in
book form this year.
In February 2001, UNCTAD's Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and
Commodities adopted agreed recommendations to Go vernments, to the international community, and
to UNCTAD.  UNCTAD, in cooperation with relevant intergovernmental organizations, was called
upon to undertake a number of activities, including to:IP/C/W/347/Add.2
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• conduct analytical work and organize regional workshops to exchange national
experiences and examine strategies on TK-related issues;
• assist member States and local and indigenous communities in exploring policies to
harness traditional knowledge for trade and development;
• assist interested developing countries in exploring ways to protect TK.
In response to these recommendations, a capacity building project on "Harnessing Traditional
Knowledge for Development and Trade" is under development.  It is also envisaged to include
capacity building on traditional knowledge as part of UNCTAD's work on post-Doha capacity
building.
Traditional knowledge has been given special attention in ongoing and recently-completed
trade, environment and development capacity building projects, particularly the project funded by
DFID on enhancing research and policy-making capacity in ten developing countries, as well as
BIOTRADE and UNCTAD/UNDP country projects.  Traditional knowledge is also a main topic
considered by the UNCTAD/ICTSD capacity build ing project on TRIPS and Development.  A
module on Harnessing TK for Development and Trade  has been added to the TrainforTrade and
CBTF Trade, Environment and Development training course series.
From 3 to 5 April 2002, the Government of India and UNCTAD convened an International
Seminar on Systems for the Protection and Commercialization of Traditional Knowledge  in
New Delhi.  Representatives from Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Kenya,
Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Venezuela and India, and a number of international expertsand inter-governmental organizations participated.  In the communiqué issued by the meeting,
participants expressed the need for understanding the viability of various instruments including
national sui generis  systems of protection and their recognition at the international level.  The papers
and presentations from this meeting are available on the UNCTAD web site.
In addition, UNCTAD welcomes the adoption by consensus by the FAO Conference in
November 2001 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
The Treaty represents an important bridge between agriculture, environment and trade.  UNCTAD
plans to organize a meeting in Geneva in the autumn of this year on the International Treaty and its
implications for Geneva-based negotiations.  This will be of particular relevance to discussions andnegotiations on TRIPS Article 27.3(b).
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