. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/539/Add.6 
23 October 2009 
 
 (09-5272) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English 
 
 
 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES: 
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS 
 
NEW ZEALAND 
 
Addendum  
  
 The following communication, dated 22 October 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of New Zealand.  
 
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 1. This submission provides information on New Zealand's technical assistance activities 
relevant to the implementation of the TRIPS Ag reement for the period July 2008 - June 2009. 
2. Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement provides th at "developed country Members shall provide, 
on request and on mutually agreed terms and c onditional, 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 protec tion and enforcement of intellectual property rights 
as well as the prevention of their abuse, and sha ll include support regarding the establishment or 
reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies relevant to these matters, including the training of personnel". 
I. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF NEW ZEALAND 
3. The New Zealand Ministry of Economic Deve lopment (MED) and the Intellectual Property 
Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provide technical assistance on request to developing and least 
developed countries to assist in establishing inte llectual property offices.  Due to New Zealand's 
history, culture and geographical location, most  such requests have come from Pacific Island 
countries.  For example, MED/IPONZ recently as sisted the Government of the Cook Islands 
following a request for technical assistance in the development of their domestic intellectual property right systems, including the development of policy for the protection of traditional knowledge and 
traditional cultural expressions.   
4. New Zealand will continue to support future work  to improve intellectual property systems of 
Pacific Island Countries. 
II. NEW ZEALAND PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS OFFICE 
5. The Plant Variety Rights Office contributed to the International Union for the Protection of 
New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and United States Patent and Trademark Office training the trainer 
programme.  IP/C/W/539/Add.6 
Page 2  
 
  6. The objective of the programme is to develop a global network of specialists in the UPOV 
plant variety protection system which can be used for the promotion and development of plant variety 
protection in developing countries, for New Zealand, primarily in the Asia Pacific region.  New Zealand has been a member of UPOV since 1987. 
7. The Plant Variety Rights Office responds to regular queries from developing countries, from 
mainly within the UPOV membersh ip, for technical advice regarding the testing of varieties for 
specific plant genera and species. Information is supplied based on practical experience and (where 
they have been developed for national use), test gui delines.  A recent example is Camellia with China.  
8. The Plant Variety Rights Office participated in the 42nd Session of the UPOV Technical 
Working Party for Ornamentals and Forest Trees  and the 40th Session of the UPOV Technical 
Working Party for Fruit Crops held in France and 38th Session of the UPOV Technical Working 
Party for Agriculture held in the Republic of Korea.  
9. The main objective for each working party is the development of international applicable test 
guidelines for the testing of specific plant genera and species.  
10. The working parties provide the opportunity for UPOV member states to share and transfer 
technical expertise. 
III. NEW ZEALAND AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 
11. The New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID) ma nages New Zealand’s 
Official Development Assistance.  Due to New Zeal and's history, culture and geographical location, 
most of NZAID’s programmes focus on developing  and least developed country Members in the 
neighbouring Asia-Pacific region.  Some of these programmes support the establishment or 
reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies releva nt to intellectual property matters, including the 
training of personnel.  Further detail on relevant  programmes can be found in New Zealand’s 2009 
Report on the implementation of Article  66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.   
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