IP/C/W/610/Add.1  
 
24 September 2015  
(15-4944)  Page: 1/3  
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights  Original: English  
 
 TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
NEW ZEALAND 
Addendum 
The following communication, dated 23 September 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of New Zealand.  
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1.  Pursuant to Article 67 of the Agreement on  Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights (TRIPS), the Council for TRIPS has reques ted reports from developed country Members of 
their technical and financial cooperation programmes in favour of developing and least developed country Members.  The present document reports on New Zealand’s activities concerning technical 
and financial cooperation in the area of intellectual property (IP), pursuant to the February 2003 
decision of the Co uncil for TRIPS.  
2.  Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement provides th at "developed country Members shall provide, on 
request and on mutually agreed terms and conditio ns, technical and financial cooperation in favour 
of developing and least developed country Members this shall include assistance in the preparation 
of laws and regulations on the protection and enforc ement of intellectual property rights as well as 
the prevention of their abuse, and shall in clude support regarding the establishment or 
reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies rele vant to these matters, including the training of 
personnel". 
3.  New Zealand has undertaken technical cooperation activities at the multilateral, regional and 
bilateral levels. At the regional level, New Zealand’s bilateral and regional trade agreements 
provides a mechanism for policy dialogue and info rmation exchange on IP with developing country 
Members. For example, the ASEAN-Australia-N ew Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) 
provides an intellectual property committee, which provides a forum for Parties to exchange 
information on intellectual property issues of mutual interest and coordinate capacity building and 
technical assistance programmes within the region.     
4.  The primary New Zealand Government agencies that are involved in IP technical cooperation 
activities are the Ministry of Business, Innova tion and Employment (MBIE), of which both the 
Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ ) and Plant Variety Rights Office are business 
units, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). 
1  INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF NEW ZEALAND 
5.  The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provides technical assistance on 
request to developing and least developed countries.  New Zealand will continue to support, on request, future work to improve the intellectua l property systems of Pacific Island countries. IP/C/W/610/Add.1 
 
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  6.  New Zealand participated in the AANZFTA-ECAP III-WIPO Advanced Training on Madrid Protocol 
for Madrid Examiners and Legal Officers from ASEAN IP Offices. The three day training course included an overview of Madrid operations at IPONZ.  
7.  The New Zealand Commissioner of Patents an d Trade Marks led a delegation to the People’s 
Republic of China. Bilateral meetings were held with the State Intellectual Property Office, 
Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration and the State Administration for Industry & Commerce. The delegation also visited the Patent Examination Cooperation Jiangsu Center. 
2  PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS OFFICE 
8.  New Zealand has been a member of the Intern ational Union for the Protection of New Varieties 
of Plants (UPOV) since 1981. New Zealand, through the Plant Variety Rights Office (PVRO), actively participates in the UPOV Technical Committee (TC) and in some of the Technical Working 
Parties (TWP).  
9.  The IPONZ Plant Variety Rights team acts as advisor to the East Asia Plant Variety Protection 
Forum. The team provides technical assistance by correspondence on request to Forum Members 
and participates in technical meetings by invitation.  
3  NEW ZEALAND MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE’S INTERNATIONAL 
DEVELOPMENT GROUP 
10.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) manages the New Zealand Aid Programme.  
The majority of New Zealand’s aid is directed to developing and least developed country Members in the Pacific and key partners in Asia.  The New Zealand Aid Programme has a core focus on sustainable economic development.  This includes supporting opportunities for private-sector led 
growth so that producers can increase the value from their production and resources, including 
their intellectual property. Further detail on programmes of relevance to TRIPS Article 67 can be found in New Zealand’s report on the implemen tation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement 
(IP/C/W/611/Add.1).  
  IP/C/W/610/Add.1  
 
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New Zealand officials presented at the following regional an d international fora in the period July 2014 to June 2015: 
 
Category Date Location Activity Link to further details 
 
Technical advice and 
information exchange 1-4 July 2014 Seoul, South Korea  DUS expert advisor and guest lecturer at the Korea Overseas 
Investment and Cooperation Agency, Plant Variety Protection and DUS Testing Training Course. Course participants came from eight East Asian and African 
countries.   
Information exchange 30 Oct 2014 Wellington, New Zealand Hosted a delegation from Chin a’s Ministry of Commerce who 
were investigating the enforcement of intellectual property 
rights in New Zealand.  
Technical advice and 
information exchange 4-6 November 
2014 Kluang, Johor, Malaysia DUS expert adviser at the East Asia Plant Variety Protection 
Forum Technical meeting for Rambutan and Star Fruit. 
Forum participants were from South East Asia .  
Information exchange 24 Apr 2015 Wellington, New Zealand Hosted a delegation from the Nati onal Copyright Administration 
of China who were investigating the protection of traditional 
knowledge and genetic resources in New Zealand   
Technical advice and 
information exchange 27-29 May 
2015 Siem Reap, Cambodia Guest speaker at th e AANZFTA Advanced Training on Madrid 
Protocol for Madrid Examiners and Legal Officers from ASEAN IP Offices.  
Technical advice and 
information exchange 1-4 June 2015 Gimcheon, South Korea DUS expert advisor and guest lecturer at the Korea Overseas 
Investment and Cooperation Agency, Plant Variety Protection 
and DUS Testing Training Course. 
Course participants came from eight East Asian and African 
countries.  
Practical training and 
Information Exchange 15 June – 2 
July 2015 Roelofarendsvenn, The 
Netherlands NZ PVRO Examiner internship at the Naktuinbouw Centre for 
Varieties and Trails. Practical training and informat ion sharing for Plant Variety 
Rights distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) testing for a wide range of ornamental and vegetable species.  
Information Exchange 21-26 June 
2015 Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai, 
China Bilateral meetings with the State Intellectual Property Office 
(Patent Office) and  State Ad ministration for Industry & 
Commerce (Trademark Office)  
 
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1 In English only.