IP/C/W/591/Add.4  
7 October 2013  
(13-5370)  Page: 1/2  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
  TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: INFORMATION FROM 
OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION  OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO) 
Addendum 
At its meeting of 11-12 June 2013, 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 informat ion which has been received from the Food 
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) by means of a communication dated 30 September 2013. 
 
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Herewith is a note containing a list of advisory projects involving TRIPS-related assistance to developing countries. FAO is implementing these projects either in the framework of its own Technical Cooperation Programme or in the context of the Trust Fund Programme. 
1  FAO TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROJECTS OF RELEVANCE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION 
OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT 
1.1  Projects with a starting date between 2010 and 2013
1 
Government Project Title Period TRIPS-related 
Activity 
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, 
and Colombia 
 Andean Seeds 2010-2013 Analysis of 
regional-level 
legislation on seeds and 
plant variety protection 
and recommendations 
to update the 
regulatory framework 
Lebanon Seeds and Seedlings 
Policy 
- 
Strengthening 
Production and 
Marketing of Lebanese 
Agricultural Products 
 2012-2013 Training on the TRIPS 
Agreement and 
assistance to the 
amendment of the 
Patent Law of 2000 and 
the drafting of a plant 
variety protection legal 
instrument 
                                               
1 In alphabetical order by recipient country. IP/C/W/591/Add.4 
- 2 - 
  Government Project Title Period TRIPS-related 
Activity 
Rwanda Support for Regulation, 
Quality Control, and 
Structuring of the Seed 
Trade Association 
of Rwanda 2011 Assistance for the 
drafting of a Bill on 
plant variety protection  
Togo Support for Revival of 
the Seed Sector 
 2011 Review of 
TRIPS-related legal 
provisions in 
the draft Seed Bill 
 
2  THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD 
AND AGRICULTURE 
2.1.  The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture contains 
provisions on intellectual property rights that are relevant to Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS 
Agreement. According to Article 12.3 d) of the Trea ty, recipients of genetic material shall not claim 
any intellectual property or other rights that limit the facilitated access to plant genetic resources 
for food and agriculture, or their genetic parts and components, in the form received from 
the Multilateral System of Access of Benefit-sharing. These provisions are reproduced in the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) that regulates the transfer of genetic material 
from a provider to a recipient under the Multilateral System. 
2.2.  In relation to genetic material incorporated in the Multilateral System, a number 
of Contracting Parties and other stakeholders to the Treaty are considering native trait patents and enquiring whether those patents that limit the use by third parties of the genetic material of the 
plant, are compatible with the above legal provisions. 
2.3.  Another relevant theme that is developing within the Treaty is declaration of source or origin 
of genetic material in patent applications. In the context of the text-based negotiations of an 
international legal instrument (or instruments) on the effective protection of traditional knowledge, 
traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources within WIPO's Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, a proposal to consider the SMTA as contents of disclosure, has been advanced. 
2.4.  Though there are currently no FAO technical cooperation programmes or activities that 
specifically address the two issues above, the Trea ty Secretariat, which is housed at FAO, remains 
interested in exploring any opportunity for cooperation with other intergovernmental organizations 
and processes in order to facilitate technical assistance on the interface between the Treaty's 
access and benefit-sharing regime and intellectual property frameworks. 
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