MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/231
14 June 2001
(01-3048)
WIPO AND WTO LAUNCH NEW INITIATIVE TO HELP
WORLD’S POOREST COUNTRIES
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and World Trade Organization (WTO)
have launched a new initiative today, 14 June 2001, to help least-developed countries maximise the
benefits of intellectual property protection.
At the ceremony held today to mark the launch, Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO,
stated that this joint initiative was simply an e xpression of commitment to least-developed countries.
From integration to participation, then to give these countries national ownership of intellectual
property protection, he stressed, was crucial in assisting these countries. He also emphasized that
intellectual property was a tool for technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation
for all nations, especially for least-developed countries.
Least-developed countries have until 1 January 2006 to comply with the WTO Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). They have to bring their
laws on copyright, patents, trademarks and other areas of intellectual property into line with the
TRIPS Agreement. They also have to provide ways of  enforcing the laws effectively, in order to deal
with piracy, counterfeiting and other forms of intellectual property infringement.
“The implementation of these obligations also  represents an opportunity for the world’s
poorest nations to harness intellectual property in order to accelerate their economic, social, and
cultural development,” said WTO Director-General Mike Moore. “Our joint initiative, which offers
varied forms of technical assistance, will help least-developed countries promote their developmental
objectives.”
Ambassadors representing least-developed countries welcomed the initiative as further
evidence that both organizations are increasingly committed to helping the world’s poorest countries.
The joint initiative builds on existing cooperation between WIPO and WTO and on each
organization’s own technical assistance programmes. It is also similar to a joint WIPO-WTO project
launched in 1998 to help all developing countries, particularly those that are not least developed,
which had to comply with the TRIPS Agreement by 2000.
The technical assistance available under the joint initiative includes cooperation with
preparing legislation, training, institution-building, modernising intellectual property systems and
enforcement. Of the 49 countries defined by the UN as least developed, 30 are members of the WTO
(another six are negotiating WTO membership) and 41 are members of WIPO. All least-developedPRESS/231
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countries can participate in the technical assistance offered; they do not need to be WIPO or WTO
members.
The joint initiative envisages assistance in two phases.
• In the first phase, two regional workshops will be organised in 2002, one for sub-Saharan Africa
and Haiti, and the other for the Asia-Pacific region. Officials from these countries will be briefed
on the basic concepts, principles and obligations of the TRIPS Agreement. They will also be
briefed on the challenges of implementing the agreement.
• In the second phase, assistance provided will focus on action plans specific to individual
countries.
Least-developed countries need a considerable amount of assistance in intellectual property.
This new initiative will ensure the most effective use of available resources. It will also ensure
technical assistance activities are efficiently planned and closely coordinated between the two
organizations.
At today’s launching ceremony, which also involved representatives from least-developed
countries, the two Directors-General signed a joint communication to go to all least-developedcountries’ governments, informing them of the join t initiative and inviting active participation. The
communication underscores the two organizations’ commitment to help least-developed countries
comply with the TRIPS Agreement on time and to use the intellectual property system to promote
their development.
This press release is being issued simultaneously by WIPO and WTO.
For additional information, visit the following websites:
WIPO : http://www.wipo.int
WTO : http://www.wto.org  (for information on intellectual property go to
http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm )
Background Notes:
WIPO has 177 member States. It is based in Geneva and is responsible for all matters related to intellectual
property, including the promotion of intellectual property protection around the world. It oversees variousinternational conventions, of which the Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Property and the BerneConvention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works are the two founding international conventions inthe area of intellectual property.
WTO has 141 members. It is based in Geneva and is the international organization dealing with the global rules
of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely aspossible. It does this by administering multilateral trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiationsand settling trade disputes.
The TRIPS Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1995 at the same time as the WTO came into being. It
was one of the outcomes of the Uruguay Round. The agreement specifies minimum standards of protection for
each of the main categories of intellectual property, building on the main WIPO conventions. The agreementalso deals with the effective enfor cement of intellectual property rights. Under the TRIPS Agreement, developed
countries had to comply with its provisions by 1 Ja nuary 1996; developing countries  were given an extra four
years, until 1 January 2000; least-developed countries are required to comply by 1 January 2006 (with thepossibility of an extension).
END