WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/78/Add.2
15September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3629)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Addendum
World Customs Organization
Thepresent document reproduces theupdated information ontechnical andfinancial cooperation
activities relevant totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement, which hasbeenreceived fromthe
World Customs Organization bymeans ofacommunication, dated 27August 1997.
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1. Introduction
InAugust 1996, theWorld Customs Organization (WCO) wasinvited bytheSecretariat of
theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) toprovide information ontechnical andfinancial cooperation
programmes which theWCO operated intheareaofintellectual property, andwhich were relevant
totheimplementation oftheTRIPS Agreement.
That information wasreproduced bytheWTO Secretariat intheform ofadocument
(IP/C/W/35), which wasmade available totheCouncil forTRIPS atitsmeeting on18September 1996.
Thispaper updates theinformation contained indocument IP/C/W/35.
2. TheWCO 'sIPRprogramme
TheWCO hasprovided itsMember Customs administrations withanumber ofmeasures aimed
atassisting Members toimprove theeffectiveness oftheborder enforcement ofintellectual property
rights (IPR). These include:
(a) model legislation forgiving Customs services appropriate powers toassist infighting
counterfeiting andpiracy;
(b) theadoption bytheWCO Council ofaRecommendation onIPR.
(c) acloserelationship withrights owners andinternational business organizations, many
ofwhom financially sponsor theWCO 'sIPRprogramme, andsome ofwhom have
formalized theircooperation withtheWCO through theconclusion ofMemoranda of
Understanding (MOUs);
(d) theanalysis ofIPR-related information heldonaWCO database, andthedissemination
ofinformation inbulletins andalerts;IP/C/W/78/Add.2
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(e) theproduction ofanIPRawareness video; and
(f) thedevelopment ofatechnical assistance programme.
Thefollowing paragraphs report onanysignificant developments inthese areas overthelast
twelve months.
3. Funding andMOUs
TheWCO 'sIPRbusiness partners continue tofundmany oftheWCO 'sactivities intheIPR
area. AWCO-managed general fundhasbeenestablished tocover expenses suchastheproduction
ofawareness material, while training mission costsaremetbythebusinesses which participate inthe
mission.
FundingfromtheWorldIntellectualPropertyOrganization(WIPO)hasenabledWCOSecretariat
officers, andexperts from WCO Member Customs administrations, toparticipate inmany activities
organized under WIPO 'sDevelopment Cooperation Programme -these aremore fullydescribed at
paragraph 8ofthispaper.
Over thelasttwelve months, theWCO hasconcluded IPRMOUs withtheMotion Picture
Association ofAmerica andtheMotion Picture Association (collectively, theMPA), andwiththeBureau
international dessociétés gérant lesdroits d'enregistrement etdereproduction mécanique (BIEM -
theumbrella organization ofthemechanical copyright organizations intheworld). Subsequently, one
ofBIEM 'sMember Societies hassigned anMOU withtheDutch Customs.
Attheregional level, anMOU hasbeenconcluded between theInternational Federation of
thePhonographic Industry (IFPI) andtheWCO 'sRegional Intelligence Liaison Office forEastern and
Central Europe.
Inthepastyear, theWCO Secretariat hasparticipated intwoevents (both inApril 1997)
organized byinternational organizations withwhom MOUs have been concluded. These were a
counterfeiting protection conference (oneofthejointorganizers ofwhich wastheInternational Chamber
ofCommerceCommercialCrimeServices),andanIPRseminarforthePolishCustoms,jointlyorganized
byIFPIandEC-Phare II.
4. Database
TheJanuary 1997annual meeting oftheWCO 'sIPRWorking Group considered how(inthe
light ofemerging newtechnologies) theWCO 'sIPRdatabase might better provide Customs
administrations withtheinformation andintelligence theyneedinorder todetect, identify anddeal
withcounterfeit andpirated goods.
TheWorking Group recommended thatanewEuropean anti-counterfeiting network called
REACTshouldbeevaluatedinitsprototypeform.REACTwaslaunchedon19June1997,andcontains
anewdatabase ofcase-related andproduct-related information. Itisintended thatthedatabase will
serve asanintelligence toolforREACT organizations (initially, theBelgian andDutch anti-counterfeit
coalitions) andlawenforcement agencies.
Theresults oftheevaluation willbereported totheWCO 'sIPRWorking Group atitsnext
meeting, inJanuary 1998.IP/C/W/78/Add.2
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5. Awareness material
With business funding, further copies oftheWCO 'sIPRvideo havebeenprocured, andare
being made available toallMembers. Additionally, Members aretoreceive aquantity ofleaflets,
which havebeendesigned tocomplement thevideo andtoreinforce itskeymessages, thusconsolidating
theawareness andknowledge which Customs officers willgainwhen seeing thevideo attraining and
other events.
Work isalsoprogressing ontheproduction ofanIPRtechnical manual, forusebyoperational
Customs staff. Thiswillcontain legalprovisions, rights holders 'contact points, commonly-encountered
riskindicators, andmeans ofidentifying genuine products from fakeones.
6. Usefulness ofmaterial
TheWCO Secretariat willshortly beissuing Members withanIPRquestionnaire, inwhich
administrations willbeasked tocomment ontheusefulness oftheIPRvideo which theyreceived in
1996. Thequestionnaire willalsoseekinformation concerning Members 'adoption oftheWCO 's1995
model legislation onIPR,andacceptance oftheCouncil 's1994 Recommendation onIPR.
7. Technical assistance
Over thelasttwelve months, twoadditional Members (Qatar andSlovenia) haverequested
IPRtraining fromtheWCO, bringing totwenty-seven thetotalnumber ofMembers asking fortechnical
assistance. TheWCO Secretariat, together withitsbusiness partners whofundIPRtechnical assistance
missions, haveidentified thefirstthree administrations tobeoffered training seminars.
Itishoped thatthefirstofthese seminars willbeheldinNovember 1997 -areply fromthe
proposed hostadministration isawaited.
8. Cooperation withWIPO
Cooperation between theWCO andtheWorld Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was
formalized through theexchange, inJuly1996, ofletters between thetwoOrganizations. TheWIPO
activities which areofinterest totheWCO mostly relate tothose organized under WIPO 'sDevelopment
Cooperation Programme forthebenefit ofdeveloping countries. Over thelasttwelve months, the
WCO Secretariat (either directly, orthrough experts provided byMember Customs administrations)
hascontributed tothefollowing activities.
(a) WIPO Orientation andStudy Programme
WCOSecretariatofficers,andexpertsfromWCOMemberCustomsadministrations,participated
intheWIPO ASEAN Orientation andStudy Programme forsenior-level Customs officers, onIPR
enforcement(inJune1997).Thisprogramme,WIPO'sfirstsucheventexclusivelyforCustomsofficers,
opened inGeneva andcontinued intheUnited Kingdom andtheUnited States.
(b) WIPO Academy Sessions
WCO Secretariat officers haveparticipated inWIPO Academy Sessions forthecountries of
theCommonwealth andIndependent States (inFebruary 1997) andforAfrican, Arab andCaribbean
countries (inJune1997).IP/C/W/78/Add.2
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(c) WIPO Regional Symposia
WCO Secretariat officers haveparticipated inWIPO Regional Symposia ontheimplications
oftheTRIPS Agreement inTanzania (English-speaking African Region, inMarch 1997), Malaysia
(Asia Region, inMarch 1997), Colombia (Latin American/Caribbean Region, inMarch 1997), Benin
(French-speaking African Region, inApril 1997), andJordan (Arab Region, inJune1997). TheWCO
Secretariat willberepresented ataWIPO Regional Seminar ontheenforcement ofpatent andtrademark
rights, inKazakstan inSeptember 1997.
(d) WIPO Sub-regional Seminar
Anexpert fromaWCO Member Customs administration participated inaSub-regional seminar
onIPRenforcement andborder measures, inThailand inJune1997.
(e) WIPO National Symposia
WCO Secretariat officers, orexperts from WCO Member Customs administrations, have
participated inWIPO National Symposia inVietnam andMorocco (onIPRenforcement, both
inOctober 1996), andinNigeria andGhana (oncopyright andneighbouring rights, bothinMay1997).
9. Conclusion
TheWCO Secretariat iscommitted tocooperating withtheWTO, WIPO andthebusiness
community and,thereby, ensuring acoordinated approach totheprovision oftechnical andfinancial
assistance toWCO Members.