Twelfth Session of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions (IGC)

In light of the renewal of the mandate of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions (IGC) for a two year period, it is timely for developing countries to reflect on what has been achieved in the seven years of the IGC and to collective consider the following:

1) how to advance the international dimension of the work of the IGC, and
2) define the expected outcomes of the work of the IGC in addressing the international dimension

The Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme (IAKP) of the South Centre will be participating in the Twelfth Session of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions (IGC) being held in Geneva from 25 - 29 February 2008.

South Centre participates in deliberations of the African Group for upcoming UNCTAD XII

On 22 February, the South Centre contributed to the deliberations of the African Group on the preparatory phase for UNCTAD XII.

Mr. Vicente Paolo Yu, Coordinator of the Global Governance for Development Programme and Mr. Ermias Biadgleng, Program Officer for the Innovation & Access to Knowledge Program at the South Centre were present for this meeting held in Montreux, Switzerland.

Mr. Biadgleng elucidated on the channels of technology transfer and the link between foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and accumulation and reproduction of knowledge. He cautioned that capacity building in the South will not occur unless there was a government support for training and skills acquirement. It also required foreign companies setting up businesses in Africa to start relying more on employees from the local populations rather than bring in their own managerial staff.

The presentation delivered by Mr. Vicente Yu focused on the disastrous effects of Climate Change and its impact on Africa. According to Mr. Yu, despite negligible contribution of African countries to the global carbon emissions they will have to bear a heavy cost resulting from decrease in agricultural output and the associated loss in employment, compounded by their lack of capacity and financial resources to adapt to climate change.

South Centre participates in retreat of African Negotiators

South Centre trade experts participated to a retreat of African negotiators regarding the WTO Agricultural and Industrial trade negotiations. The retreat was held on 16 and 17 February 2008 and was convened by Côte d'Ivoire on behalf of the African Group. It provided negotiators with an opportunity to discuss the revised draft modalities for Agriculture and NAMA presented on 8 February 2008.

Luisa A. Rodriguez, Programme Officer for Agricultural goods, and Darlan F. Martí, Programme Officer for Industrial trade, assisted negotiators in better understanding some of the technical elements in the draft modalities texts, contributing to enhancing African negotiators positions in the various topics covered in the modalities texts.

The Third South Intellectual Platform (SIP) Retreat Convenes

The third South Intellectual Platform (SIP) Retreat was organized at the Chateau de Bossey - Ecunemical Institute, Switzerland on 17 Feburary 2008. The Retreat provided an opportunity for the Chairperson, the Board Members of the South Centre, and some of invited guests to brainstorm on issues of relevance to the South. Discussions focused on new and re-emerging challenges for the South; the changing dynamics of South-South cooperation - including how to balance the interests of small and big economies; engaging media, NGOs and private sector from the South; and on emergence of South Centre as a knowledge centre.

All the sessions were chaired by Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, the former President of Tanzania and the Chairperson of the South Centre and by Professor Norman Girvan.

The South Intellectual Platform (SIP) is an initiative of the South Centre to reflect on the new issues and challenges for the South which have emerged since the work of the South Commission over 15 years earlier. The first SIP workshop was held on 10-11 July 2006.

South Centre in Media: Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement

A reference to the South Centre appears in the Jamaica Gleaner in article "Implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement" appearing on January 25, 2008 authored by Guest Commentator, Professor Norman Girvan.

It quotes:

Development assistance in specified forms, quantities, and time-frames is not included in the EPA. If additional investment and development assistance are not forthcoming, there is no provision within the EPA for the promised beneficiaries to be released from their obligations.
This issue may be illustrated with regard to the EPA chapter on innovation and intellectual property. A comment prepared at my request by a team of experts at the South Centre observes that:
"Chapter 2 of Title IV of the draft EPA text covers issues linked with key aspects of socio-economic development of the Cariforum states. One can easily assess the different levels of engagement of the parties under Section 1 and Section 2. Section 1 largely provides for non-binding commitment, declaratory statements, and matters that will be defined during implementation. Section 2 largely establishes binding TRIPS-plus standards that should be implemented by the parties. If Section 1 is assumed to be of interest for Cariforum, then what they are getting from the EPA will be largely promises that may face the inherent difficulty of determining their scope and the kind of measures that can be considered as adequate implementation of the commitments. The implementation of Section 2 is straightforward, involving the introduction of domestic laws to implement the section that can be easily verified and assessed."

For more information:
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080125/business/business8.html

South Centre in Media: IPR Enforcement at Meeting in Dubai

Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme (IAKP), South Centre organized an event parallel to the "Fourth Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy" in Dubai. The views shared by Dr. Xuan Li, Coordinator of the IAKP are quoted in the ICTSD reporting as following:

In contrast, an event organised by the South Centre on the sidelines of the Dubai meeting highlighted TRIPS flexibilities on the enforcement of IPRs and called for maintaining “legitimate balances” between the rights of intellectual property holders and the public interest.

“Currently there exist a lot of misunderstandings that confuse the public in terms of concepts, definitions and obligations of the enforcement of IPRs and the combating of counterfeiting goods and piracy,” said Xuan Li, coordinator of innovation and access to knowledge at the South Centre.

See: http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/08-02-13/inbrief.htm

Chairman Mkapa and Board of the South Centre issue a Press Release

The governing Board of the South Centre completed its meeting in Geneva today. The South Centre is the think-tank of the developing countries, G-77 and China, on global strategic and development issues.

The Board is chaired by Mr. Benjamin W. Mkapa, the former President of Tanzania and members include Professor Norman Girvan (former Secretary- General of the Association of Caribbean States, Jamaica), Chief Emeka Anyaoku (former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Nigeria), Professor Deepak Nayyar (former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and former Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, India), Mr. Li Zhaoxing (former Minister of Foreign Affairs, China), Professor José Antonio Ocampo (former UN Under-Secretary General, Colombia), Mr. Al Zalzalah (former Minister of Commerce, Kuwait), and Mr. Bagher Asadi (former Ambassador of Iran to the UN, Iran).

The Board reviewed the past performance, present activities and future challenges of the institution, and believes that the Centre has made excellent progress in its work programmes and in particular Trade for Development, Innovation and Access to Knowledge and Global Governance for Development, supported by its strengthened outreach activities. For more details, see http://www.southcentre.org/

Ninth Meeting of the Council of Representatives takes place in Geneva

The Ninth Meeting of the Council of Representatives took place today in Room XXV, Palais des Nations, Geneva. The Meeting was well attended by the member countries of the South Centre.

Ninth Meeting of the Council of Representatives of South Centre to convene in Geneva today

The Ninth Meeting of the Council of Representatives of South Centre will convene in Geneva today (15 February 2008). The meeting of the Council follows the Twentieth meeting of the Members of the Board of the South Centre .

Board Members of South Centre convene for the Twentieth Meeting of the Board

The Twentieth Meeting of the Board of the South Centre is being held in Geneva from 14 to 16 February 2008 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Benjamin W. Mkapa, the former President of Tanzania and the Chairperson of the Board of the South Centre. Two new members were welcomed into the Board, Mr. Yousef Al ZALZALAH (Kuwait) and Mr. Li ZHAOXING (China).