. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/W/18 
18 October 2005 
 (05-4770) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Dedicated Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
TRADE RELATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AGREEMENT: 
DESIGNATION OF A REGIONAL BODY 
 
Communication from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Fiji,  
Grenada, Jamaica, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands,  
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines  
   The following communication, dated 13 October 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the above delegations. 
 
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This Paper sets some proposals to address certain specific concerns of the 
co-sponsors as it relates to the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property 
Rights Agreement.  The multilateral tradi ng system needs to identify and implement 
responses to the issues identified in this  submission to overcome the inherent 
economic disadvantages faced by th ese small, vulnerable economies. 
1. Introduction 
1. Many developing countries have  experienced severe difficultie s in the implementation of 
many of the provisions of the TRIPs Agreement.  These problems are particularly pronounced for the 
co-sponsors, which are SVEs, and wh ich have extremely limited capac ity to implement complex rules 
and procedures found in the TRIPS Agreement . 
2. Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement makes provi sion for developed countries to provide, upon 
request, technical and financial co-operation to assi st in the implementation of intellectual property 
rights provisions.  However, the co-sponsors of the proposal, given their small administration and the 
complex nature of the Agreement, even expe rience difficulties in identifying their needs and 
requirements in order to make requests for assistan ce.  Moreover, given the small size of their 
populations, some of these economies do not have  the manpower and institutional capacity necessary 
to establish domestic offices and relevant agencies or  to train personnel to deal with these matters.  
3. The unit cost and administrative burden of impl ementing the agreement at the national level 
are generally higher in SVEs than in most other WTO Member countries.  Therefore, it should be explicitly recognised that such countries can im plement the relevant pr ovisions of the TRIPs 
Agreement at the regional level and thereby de rive the benefits from economies of scale.  
2. Relevant WTO provision 
4. Article 67, Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights. WT/COMTD/SE/W/18 
Page 2  
 
3. Proposal 
5. Recognising the underlying public policy objectives of national systems for the protection of 
intellectual property, including developmental a nd technological objectives, and also the need to 
enable these small, vulnerable economies to create a sound and viable technological base, the General 
Council is to recommend to the Ministerial Confer ence that there shall be explicit recognition of 
Members' rights to designate a regional body to pr ovide such technical support as is necessary to 
assist them in fulfilling their obligations under the TRIPS Agreement.  Members and the WTO, within 
its competence, shall provide the technical and fi nancial assistance required to enable these small, 
vulnerable economies to fulfil their objectives under this Agreement. 
4. Final remark 
6. This proposal is without prejudice to, indivi dual country positions, and to the rights of the 
co-sponsors to submit additional proposals in future Dedicated Sessions or, otherwise, in other WTO 
bodies on any issues contained in this Paper a nd/or on any other issues not included here. 
 
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