WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/108
23 July 1998
(98-2928)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES:  INFORMATION
FROM OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
World Customs Organization
At its meeting of 12 May 1998, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial
cooperation activities relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the World
Customs Organization by means of a communication, dated 12 June 1998.
Communications from other intergovernmental organizations will be circulated as addenda to
this document.
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1. Introduction
In July 1997, the World Customs Organization (WCO) was invited by the Council for TRIPS
to provide information on technical and financial cooperation programmes which the WCO operated
in the area of intellectual property, and which were relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS
Agreement.
That information was reproduced by the WTO Secretariat in the form of a document
(IP/C/W/78/Add.2), which was made available to the Council for TRIPS at its meeting on
19 September 1997.
This paper updates the information contained in documents IP/C/W/78/Add.2 and in the
earlier document IP/C/W/35.
2. The WCO's IPR programme
The WCO has provided its Member Customs administrations with a number of measures
aimed at assisting Members to improve the effectiveness of the border enforcement of intellectual
property rights (IPRs).  These include:
(a) model legislation for giving Customs services appropriate powers to assist in fighting
counterfeiting and piracy;
(b) the adoption by the WCO Council of a Recommendation on IPRs;
(c) a close relationship with rights owners and international business organizations, many
of whom financially sponsor the WCO's IPR programme, and some of whom haveIP/C/W108
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formalized their cooperation with the WCO through the conclusion of Memoranda of
Understanding (MOUs);
(d) the analysis of IPR-related information held on a WCO database, and the
dissemination of information in bulletins and alerts;
(e) the production of an IPR-awareness video and accompanying leaflets;
(f) the development of a technical assistance programme.
The following paragraphs report on any significant developments in these areas over the last
twelve months.
3. Funding
The WCO's IPR business partners continue to fund many of the WCO's activities in the IPR
area.  A WCO-managed general fund has been established to cover expenses such as the production of
awareness material, while training mission costs are met by the businesses which participate in themission.
Funding from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has enabled WCO
Secretariat officers, and experts from WCO Member Customs administrations, to participate in many
activities organized under WIPO's Development Cooperation Programme – these are more fully
described in paragraph 8 of this paper.
4. Database
The January 1998 annual meeting of the WCO's IPR Working Group considered further how
(in the light of emerging new technologies) the WCO's IPR database might better provide Customs
administrations with the information and intelligence they need in order to detect, identify and deal
with counterfeit and pirated goods.
The Working Group recommended that a WCO Information Technology Support Group liaise
with the REACT and MUSYC organiza tions (which have databases which could serve as intelligence
tools), and with the United States Customs Service (which has its own IPR database), regarding the
coordination and best use of the various databases.  The Support Group has been asked to look at how
the databases could converge or be linked, to explore the possible uses of the WCO's Web Site, and toconsider ways of obtaining more information on seizures.
5. Awareness material
With business funding, further copies of the WCO's IPR video and a new leaflet have been
distributed to Member administrations.  Work is also progressing on the production of an IPR
technical manual, for use by operational Customs staff.  This will contain legal provisions, right
holders' contact points, commonly-encountered risk  indicators, and means of identifying genuine
products from fake ones.IP/C/W108
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6. Usefulness of material
In response to a WCO questionnaire which sought information concerning Members'
acceptance of the Council's 1994 Recommendation on IPR, the Administrations of Bulgaria, Estonia,
Germany, Swaziland, Ukraine and Zambia all indicated their formal acceptance.  Members' responses
also indicated that the WCO's 1995 model legislation on IPR had been widely used in framingnational IPR legislation in line with the TRIPS Agreement.
7. Technical assistance
Over the last twelve months, two additional Members (Mongolia and Zambia) have requested
IPR training from the WCO, bringing to twenty-nine the total number of Members asking for
technical assistance.  Some of these have received training in recent times, and the WCO Secretariat,
together with its business partners who fund IPR technical assistance missions, have identified three
administrations to be offered training seminars during 1998.
The first of these seminars was held in Bulgaria in March 1998.  Missions to the Russian
Federation and Mexico will take place in September 1998 and November 1998 respectively.
The WCO Secretariat participated in two European Patent Office (EPO) seminars in Vietnam,
in August 1998, and will attend the UN Economic Commission for Europe IPR Forum in Geneva, in
October 1998.
8. Cooperation with WIPO
Cooperation between the WCO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was
formalized through the exchange, in July 1996, of letters between the two Organizations.  The WIPO
activities which are of interest to the WCO mostly relate to those organized under WIPO's
Development Cooperation Programme for the benefit of developing countries.  Over the last twelvemonths, the WCO Secretariat (either directly, or through experts provided by Member Customs
administrations) has contributed to the following activities:
(a) WIPO Orientation and Study Programme
WCO Secretariat officers, and experts fr om WCO Member Customs administrations,
participated in the WIPO-Asia Orientation and Study Program for senior-levelCustoms officers, on IPR enforcement (in May 1998).  This programme, WIPO's
second such event exclusively for Customs officers, opened in Geneva and continued
in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
(b) WIPO Academy Sessions
WCO Secretariat officers and experts from WCO Member Customs administrations
have participated in WIPO Academy Sessi ons for Arab countries (in November 1997)
and Asia and Pacific countries (in June 1998 ), as well as a special Academy Session
in the Russian Federation (in June/July 1998).
(c) WIPO Regional Symposia
WCO Secretariat officers participated in a WIPO Asian Regional Symposium on the
implications of the TRIPS Agreement, in Hong Kong, in June 1998.  The WCO
Secretariat was also represented at a WIPO-EPO Regional Seminar on theenforcement of patent and trademark rights, in Kazakstan in September 1977.IP/C/W108
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(d) WIPO sub-Regional Seminar
An expert from a WCO Member Customs administration will participate in a
sub-Regional seminar on IPR enforcement and border measures, being planned in
Mongolia.
(e) WIPO National Symposia
WCO Secretariat officers, or experts fr om WCO Member Customs administrations,
have participated in WIPO National Symposia in Bulgaria (on IPR enforcement,
June 1998), and in Trinidad and Tobago (on copyright and neighbouring rights, in
January 1998).
9. Conclusion
The WCO Secretariat is committed to cooperating with the EPO, WTO, WIPO and the
business community and, thereby, ensuring a coordinated approach to the provision of technical andfinancial assistance to WCO Members.
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