In response to many requests, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) is pleased to make available an information note which summarizes the key findings of its recent book “Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development: Development Agendas in a Changing World,” which was launched on 27th April 2010, at a side event during the last session of WIPO Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP).

The book, edited by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz and Pedro Roffe, was inspired by the dialogues and events sponsored by ICTSD globally since 2001, many of which were held in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the context of their joint project on intellectual property rights and sustainable development.

It brings together a selected number of papers by recognized experts in the field of IP and development initially produced for these dialogues, as well as those authored by rising scholars and policy-makers. The book’s ability to unite a diverse range of voices on issues that occupy a central space in today’s global policy debates is part of what sets it apart as a unique contribution to this field.

From a development perspective, a number of new and emerging IP issues are examined in this book as well. Case studies and experiences from Africa, Asia, and Latin America analyse the impact of IP on the pharmaceutical sector, the protection of life forms and traditional knowledge, geographical indications, access to knowledge, and the role of competition policy. Challenges developing countries face in the TRIPS-plus world are also addressed. The experiences revealed, as well as cyclical attitudes toward IP, show that there is ultimately no universal model of IP protection.

Ingrid Jegou, Senior Programme Officer, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
Economic and Development Implications in Latin America

Valentina Durán, Environmental Law Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Chile
A Legal View on Border Tax Adjustments

Rodrigo Polanco Lazo
A Legal View on Border Tax Adjustments

Panel I:  Multilateralism and Investment: Multilateralism Revisited Promoting Coherence in International Investment Rule-making through a Secondary Law Approach

WTI/ICTSD Roundtable Format

Moderator: Marie Wilke, World Trade Institute

Elisabeth Tuerk, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

Roberto Echandi, Ambassador of Costa-Rica to the Netherlands

Sabine Konrad, K&L Gates LLP

Lluis Paradell, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Discussants: Katja Gehne, WTI

Although the possibility of a sovereign debt crisis is now looming over the world economy, GDP growth has started to pick up in most regions and employment growth is following, albeit with a lag.  One of the questions that arise during this recovery phase is whether the global economy will return back to “normal” or whether the global crisis has triggered structural changes that will affect the long term patterns of trade and FDI flows with resulting effects on employment.

In this context, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Global Trade and Financial Architecture (GTFA) are organising a conference on the linkages between globalization and employment in the light of global shocks and structural change.  The event will take stock of what we know about the mechanisms through which the global crisis has affected employment in different countries and about the forms these effects have taken (e.g. unemployment, wage cuts, reduction in working hours).  The aim is also to identify patterns of structural change and their possible effects on employment, and to enhance our understanding of the suitability of different policy  responses in periods of global shocks or structural change. 

The attached agenda provides more detailed information on the day’s program.

The conference will take place on June 21, starting at 9.00 a.m  in ILO Room IX. For security and logistical reasons, please, confirm your participation by sending an e-mail to Mr. Erik von Uexkull at vonuexkull@ilo.org  by June 14.

The third ICAO Environmental Colloquium (the second was held in  May 2007) will be entirely dedicated to aviation and climate change.

It will focus on strategies and programmes of ICAO, industry, academic/research institutions and international organizations to harness technological, scientific and economic solutions in the global fight against climate change. This Colloquium, in English only, will provide a forum on aviation and climate change, in particular on related key developments emanating from the ICAO’s Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels, UNFCCC COP/15 and the 8th Meeting of ICAO’s Committee for Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP).

This event will allow representatives from different stakeholders to share information on aviation and climate change with a view to facilitating environment-related discussions and high-level decision-making at the 37th Session of the ICAO Assembly in September 2010.

A tutorial will precede the Environmental Colloquium and will provide a broad overview of aviation greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) sufficient to familiarize participants with the vocabulary and concepts used in the description, measurement, regulation, and management of aviation GHG emissions. It will prepare participants for the discussions and presentations that will occur over the following 3 days of the Colloquium.

17.00–18.00   WTO Dispute Settlement Body Developments in 2009

AMBASSADOR JOHN GERO, Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO, Chair of the DSB

Presentation on the 2009 Annual Report of the Appellate Body

PROF. DAVID UNTERHALTER, Chairman of the Appellate Body

18.00–19.00   Roundtable discussion on WTO Dispute Settlement in 2009

SHUAIHUA CHENG, Strategic Analysis and China Programme Officer, ICTSD

PETROS MAVROIDIS, Professor, Neuchatel & Columbia University

STEPHEN ORAVA, Partner, King & Spalding, Washington DC

FRIEDER ROESSLER, Executive Director, Advisory Centre on WTO Law

JASPER WAUTERS, Associate, White & Case

Moderator

JOOST PAUWELYN, Professor of International Law, Graduate Institute

Date: Tuesday 2 March 2010, 17.00 to 19.00

Venue: Auditorium Jacques-Freymond, 132 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva

For the details about the conference, you can also directly visit the website of Graduate Institute : http://graduateinstitute.ch/ctei/home/forthcoming_events/annual_disp_setl3.html

The objective of the workshop is to see the inputs and views of the relevant national stakeholders dealing with IP issues in order to prepare an assessment of IP technical cooperation needs for Cambodia as well as a development dimension of intellectual property report (DDIP).

In its decision of 29 November 2005 extending the transition period for least-developed countries (LDCs) to implement the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), the World Trade Organization (WTO) Council for TRIPS also invited LDC Members to provide as much information as possible to the Council on their individual priority needs for technical and financial co-operation in order to assist them in taking steps necessary for the future implementation of the Agreement.

In this context, ICTSD received a request from Cambodia’s Ministry of Trade to provide assistance to conduct a technical and financial cooperation needs assessment in order to respond to the TRIPS Council decision. At the same time, UNCTAD also received a request from the Ministry for Trade to provide assistance in the elaboration of a development dimension of intellectual property report (DDIP). UNCTAD and ICTSD have agreed to pool resources to carry out these activities.

The workshop of February 3rd will be followed by interviews with key stakeholders.