. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/Rev.1
10 April 2006 
 (06-1668) 
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  
 
Revision  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 6 April 2006, is being circulated at the request of the above delegations.  
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This paper sets some proposals to add ress certain specific concerns of the 
co-sponsors as it relates to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights.  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 small and vulnerable ec onomies (SVEs), and which have extremely limited 
capacity 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 provisions of the TRIPS 
Agreement at the regional level and thereby de rive the benefits from economies of scale.  WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/Rev.1 
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2. Relevant WTO provision 
4. Article 67, Agreement on TRIPS. 
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 technical and financial assistance at mutually agreed terms to support 
small, vulnerable economies in fulfilling their ri ghts and obligations under this agreement.  
4. Final remark 
6. This proposal is without prejudice to individua l 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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