IP/C/W/644/Rev.1/Add.3  
 
18 October 2018  
(18-6529) Page: 1/3 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES: INFORM ATION FROM  
OTHER INTERGOVERNMEN TAL ORGANIZATIONS  
WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANI ZATION (WCO)  
Addendum  
At its meeting of 4-5 June  2018, the Council for TRIPS agreed to invite intergovernmental 
organization observers to the Council to update the information on their technical and financial 
cooperation programmes relating to the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.  
 
The present document reproduces the information which has been received from the 
World  Customs  Organization (W CO) by means of a communication dated 12 October 201 8. 
 
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1  OVERVIEW OF WORLD CU STOMS ORGANIZATION ( WCO) ACTIVITIES AND TOOLS OF 
RELEVANCE TO THE TRI PS AGREEMENT  
1.  The intellectual property rights (IPR) , Health and Safety Programme of WCO maint ains its resolve 
to protect consumer health and safety, and continues to combat counterfeiting and piracy through 
a variety of activities described in the following paragraphs. WCO experience in this field is in line 
with the other international organisati ons working in the field of IPR enforcement , and there seems 
to be a shift of the modus operandi towards the use of small consignments thus reducing the 
numbers of large seizures, but the re does not seem to be any significant fall in the number of 
counterf eits traded globally. WCO 's main activity is to raise awareness about Customs work in this 
area either towards other international organisations or by promoting capacity building activities for 
our member Administrations. The capacity building consists of two factors; training through 
workshops and education and training through operational activities. Please find a list o f WCO 
activities in Annex I . 
1.1  Large -scale operations  
2.  The WCO organizes simultaneous enforcement activities with multiple Customs administ rations. 
These operations are aimed at gauging the scale of global counterfeiting whilst providing 
participating Customs offi cers with hands -on experience. Between October 2017 and 
September  2018, the WCO organized one large -scale operation in Africa : Operation Mirage . Please 
see below for more details.  
3.  In partnership  with Interpol and Europol and health authorities , WCO also co -organises a large -
scale operation, the global operation PANGEA against pharmaceutical pro ducts sold online . Last 
year's ten th ope ration was held in September  2017,  involving 197 police, customs and health 
regulatory authorities from  a record 123 countries . Operation Pangea X led to a record number of 
25 million illicit and counterfeit medicines seized worldwide.  
4.  The impact of such a substantial level of interventions over a short space of time sends a strong 
message both to offenders and the general public.   IP/C/W/644/Rev.1/Add.3  
 
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  1.2  National/regional seminars  
5.  The WCO delivers extensive capacity building activities, mainly in the form of legislative training , 
document targeting training and product identification training, with private sector cooperation. But 
the organisation also performs diagnostic missions. In the diagnostic missions , WCO experts visit 
the country and assess the Customs administrations cap abilities in the domain of fighting 
counterfeits. The evaluation includes both the legal base and practical and procedural arrangements, 
and lead s to a recommendation from WCO.  Between October 2017 and September 2018, the WCO 
conducted several training sem inars/workshops for officers from a number of WCO Member 
administrations.   
1.3  Counterfeit and Piracy Group (CAP) meeting  
6.  The annual WCO Counterfeiting and Piracy (CAP) Group meeting provides a forum for Customs 
and related law enforcement agencies to exchange  information, experiences and best practices on 
combating counterfeiting and piracy. At its 14th Meeting from 15 to 16 November 2017, Members 
explored the challenges posed by the Internet and cyber investigations, e -commerce and small 
consignments but also  food and plant varieties where discussed. During this meeting, Members also 
shared their experiences and exchanged practices on fighting counterfeits.  
1.4  E-learning module (CLiCK)  
7.  By using the WCO 's internet -based e -learning module "CLiCK ", Customs officers can acquire 
practical knowledge on border enforcement related to  IPR. They can train themselves on 
intellectual  property (IP)  agreements, such as the TRIPS Agreement, and on practical, risk -based 
document targeting.  
1.5  Interface Public -Members (IPM)  
8.  In spite of last year 's release of the IPM tool to the private partner to facilitate development, the 
tool has unfortunately been suspended. Negotiations are being  held, but any substantial conclusions 
have so far not been reached . 
2  WCO -LED OPERATIONS I N 201 7/201 8  
9.  Operations entail simultaneous enforcement activities conducted by multiple Customs 
administrations, focusing on targeted products. Operations, which quantify and qualify the impact 
of counterfeit activities, can also serve as an excellent opportunity to s trengthen Customs ' 
enforcement capacity. Participating Members are able to learn about practical border enforcement 
measures through our Accredited Experts and gain hands -on experience using WCO tools, such as 
CENcomm. Between October 201 7 and September 20 18, the WCO conducted two large -scale 
operations in different parts of the world and with different scopes.  
2.1  Operation MIRAGE  
10.  From 10t  to 19 September 2018 the WCO organized a major IPR, 
Health  and Safety  Operation  on the African Mainland. The Operation was conducted under the 
codename MIRAGE, referring to the deception and delusion inherent to counterfeit  and falsified 
medicines. 16 countries from West, East and Southern Africa participated in the operation: 
14 countries with major seapor ts on the African mainland and three  landlocked countries. The close 
cooperation with the World  Health  Organization 's (WHO) National Focal Points and the 
World  Animal  Health  Organization  (OiE) Focal Points led to a better follow up o f cases and  contact 
with Interpol 's National  Contact  Bureaus was established in case of further investigations. The main 
focus of the Operation was counterfeit and illicit medicines; not losing attention of all other goods 
that could jeopardize the health and safety of the African citizens. Again , around 200 million units 
of counterfeit or falsified medicines and products w ere seized. (e xact number s were not available at 
the time of print) . 
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  IP/C/W/644/Rev.1/Add.3  
 
- 3 - ANNEX1 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES IN THE TRIPS AREA FROM 1 OC TOBER 201 7 TO 30 SEPTEMBER 201 8 
Category  From  To Year Location  Countries  Activity  Other 
organization  
Subregional Workshop  02-Oct 06-Oct 2017 Burkina Faso  Ivory Coast, Togo, 
Benin and Burkina 
Faso Subregional  Workshop on Combatting 
Counterfeits in West -Africa  Interpol  
Subregional  21-Nov 24-Nov 2017 Belize  Belize, Costa Rica, 
Guatemala, 
Honduras  Subregional  Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
Subregional  03-Dec 07-Dec 2017 Fiji WCO Oceanian 
Members  Subregional  Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  4-Dec 6-Dec 2017 Cambodia  Cambodia  National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  22-Jan 26-Jan 2018 Vietnam   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  19-Feb 24-Feb 2018 Panama   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop - 
legal 22-Apr 23-Apr 2018 Afghanistan   Diagnostic Workshop - funded by USPTO  USPTO  
National Workshop  15-May 17-May 2018 Tajikistan   National Workshop - IP Border 
Enforcement /organized by USPTO  USPTO  
National Workshop  05-Jun 07-Jun 2018 Georgia   National Workshop -   
National Workshop  26 Jun  30 June  2018 Ghana   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
Subregional Workshop  09-Jul 13-Jul 2018 Malaysia  ASEAN Member 
States  Subregional  Workshop on IPR for ASEAN 
Member States  ASEAN 
Secretariat  
Subregional W orkshop  24 Sept  26 Sept  2018 Mexico Mexico, Belize  Subregional  Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy  USPTO  
 
 
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1 In English only.