IP/C/W/633/Add.6  
 
6 October 2017  
(17-5402) 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 13 June 2017 , 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 4 October 2017 . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1  OVERVIEW OF WORLD CU STOMS ORGANIZATION ( WCO) ACTIVITIES AND TOOLS OF 
RELEVANCE TO THE TRI PS AGREEMENT  
1.  Given its resolve to protect consumer health and safety, the WCO continues to com bat 
counterfeiting and piracy through the following activities and tools.  
1.1  Large -scale operations  
2.  The WCO organizes simultaneous enforcement activities with multiple Customs administrations. 
These operations are aimed at gauging the scale of global counter feiting whilst providing 
participating Customs officers with hands -on experience.  Between October 2016 and September 
2017, the WCO organized two large -scale operations: Action IPR 2 in the Asia Pacific region, and 
ACIM 2 in Africa.  The impact of such a sub stantial level of intervention over a short space of time 
sends a strong message both to offenders and the general public.  
1.2  National/regional seminars  
3.  The WCO delivers extensive capacity building activities, mainly in the form of legislative 
training, docu ment targeting training and product identification training, with private sector 
cooperation. Between October 2016 and September 2017, the WCO conducted training 
seminars/workshops for officers from a number of WCO Member administrations.  
1.3  Interface Public -Members (IPM)  
4.  The IPM tool has recently undergone a transition and is moving into a new phase. The WCO 
created the IPM platform to support the efforts of Customs services and for the potential of this 
unique tool to be realized, the WCO feels that it is n ow time to offer it to a broader range of 
stakeholders outside the Organization 's scope. In order to make this possible the WCO has decided 
to transfer the ownership and further development of IPM to PSS, a wholly owned subsidiary of 
TechTrace and our long standing partn er and technology provider, who  will expand the scope of 
the IPM platform, making it available to all relevant agencies and governments active in the fight 
against illicit trade.  IP/C/W/633/Add.6  
 
- 2 - 
 
  5.  The Secretary General encourages all WCO Members and stakeholde rs of the IPM platform to 
continue to give their active support to the programme.  
1.4  Counterfeit and Piracy Group meeting  
6.  The annual WCO Counterfeiting and Piracy (CAP) Group meeting provides a forum for Customs 
and related law enforcement agencies to exchang e information, experiences and best practices on 
combating counterfeiting and piracy.  At its 13th Meeting from 28 to 30 November 2016, Members 
explored the challenges posed by the Internet, e -commerce and small consignments. During this 
meeting, Members also shared their experiences and exchanged prac tices on fighting counterfeits.  
1.5  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 intellectual property rights (IPR).  They can 
train themselves on intellectual property (IP)  agreements, such as the TRIPS Agreement, and on 
practical, risk -based document targeting.  
2  WCO -LED OPERATIONS IN 20 16/2017  
8.  Operations entail simultaneous enforcement activities conducted by multiple Customs 
administrations, focusing on targeted products. Operations, w hich quantify and qualify the impact 
of counterfeit activities, can also serve as an excellent opportunity to strengthen Customs ' 
enforcement capacity. Participating Members are able to learn about practical border enforcement 
measures through our Accredit ed Experts and gain hands -on experience using WCO tools, such as 
CENcomm.  Between October 2016 and September 2017, the WCO conducted two large -scale 
operations in different parts of the world and with different scopes.  
2.1  Action IPR  
9.  ACTION IPR A/P 2 is the se cond joint enforcement action against counterfeiting and piracy in 
the Asia/Pacific Region, aimed at targeting illicit products that endanger people 's health and 
safety. This Operation was carried out from 6 to 24 February 2017, and participated countries 
raised the level of enforcement on IPR and health and safety -related products, resulting in 
the interception of 1,453,429 pieces, 153,099kg, and 75 litres across 245  cases.  
2.2  Operation ACIM  
10.  The WCO, under the co -sponsorship of the Institute of Research again st Counterfeit Medicines 
(IRACM), organized Operation "ACIM 2 " (Action against Counterfeit and Illicit Medicines) in Africa 
from 12 to 21 June 2017 . The Operation mobilized the resources of 18 African Customs 
administrations and resulted in the interceptio n of over 258 million units at the end of 
the Operation, mainly related to the Pharmaceutical Industry.  
 
_______________  
  
  IP/C/W/633/Add.6  
 
- 3 - ANNEX1 
TECHNICAL COOPERATIO N ACTIVITIES IN TH E TRIPS AREA FROM 1 OCTOBER 2016 TO 30 S EPTEMBER 2017  
Category  From  To Year Location  Countries  Activity  Other 
organization  
National Workshop  11 Sept  15 Sept  2017 Indonesia   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
Sub-regional 
Workshop  3 October  7 October  2016 Azerbaijan  AZ, KG, KZ, TJ, 
UZ Sub-regional Workshop on IPR for 
Central Azia and Azerbaijan  UNODC  
Regional Workshop  30 January  3 February  2017 Namibia  18 countries 
from the ESA 
region  Regional Operational Seminar on 
combating counterfeiting and 
piracy, Health and Safety 
Workshop.   
National Workshop  12 March  16 March  2017 Sudan   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
Regional Workshop  3 April  7 April  2017 Uruguay  17 countries 
from AMS 
Region  Regional Operational Seminar on 
combating counterfeiting and 
piracy, Health and Safety 
Workshop.   
National Workshop  24 April  28 April  2017 Colombia   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  11 July  14 July  2017 Kyrgyzstan   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  28 August  1 Sept.  2017 Costa Rica   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
National Workshop  11 Sept.  15 Sept.  2017 Burundi   National Workshop on Combating 
Counterfeiting and Piracy   
 
 
__________  
                                                
1 In English only.