§ Mr. BorrowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the meetings of the Commission on TRIPS. [5528]
§ Clare ShortThe Commission on Intellectual Property Rights held full meetings in London on 8 to 9 May and on 4 July. On 8 May, the Commission received oral and written submissions from UK Government Departments, from industry representatives and from development charities. Otherwise, the meetings were used to prepare and finalise the Commission's work programme up until March 2002, when it is expected to present its report.
In addition to these full meetings of the Commission, Dr. Mashelkar visited South Africa at the end of May to discuss IPR issues in general and South African views on access to medicines in particular; while Professor Correa and Professor Barton visited Brussels and Geneva at the beginning of July to meet with representatives from, among others, the European Commission, UNCTAD, WTO, WIPO, WHO and delegations from developing and developed countries.
The work programme which the Commission is now pursuing essentially comprises a programme of technical studies by leading international experts as well as consultations with interested parties from Government, the private sector and civil society around the world. The work programme focuses on nine main areas:
IPRs, Technology and DevelopmentPharmaceutical and VaccinesGenetic Resources, Gene-based Inventions and AgricultureTraditional Knowledge and FolkloreIPRs, the Internet and Copyright
£000 1998–991 1999–20001 2000–011 2001–022 2002–032 2003–042 Urban poverty 425 92 933 11,000 15,000 15,000 Rural livelihoods 86 40 48 3,000 6,500 7,500 Power sector reform 1,211 4,510 5,867 5,300 5,300 5,000 Energy efficiency 1,018 2,535 5,950 8,000 2,000 — Economic reform — 666 961 1,000 1,000 800 Primary education 4,092 4,601 3,895 3,500 4,000 4,000 Child labour 21 564 586 900 1,100 — Tackling TB 190 6,004 841 1,800 2,000 2.000 1 Actual 2 Estimated Note:
In addition to the expenditure given above, DFID is supporting a number of national and multi-state projects which cover Andhra Pradesh, but it is not possible to isolate the money that is spent in AP. These projects are for microenterprise, sexual health, water and sanitation, and training of police.
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National IPR legislation in Developing CountriesTRIPS and the International FrameworkProcess and Constitutional Issues in International Rule-MakingInstitutional Issues for IPRs regimes in Developing Countries.Looking ahead, I understand that the Commission is planning fact-finding missions to India and to other developing countries later in the year, as well as consultations in Brussels and Washington. I further understand that full meetings of the Commission are planned in early September and mid-December, as well as an expert's workshop to review the findings of the Commission's study programme in January.Further information about the Commission's mission, composition and work programme can be found on its website www.iprcornmission.org.
§ Mr. BorrowTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will list the membership of the Commission on TRIPS. [5525]
§ Clare ShortThe Commission on Intellectual Property Rights comprises the following six experts
Professor John Barton, Professor of Law. Stanford University, USA (Chairman)Daniel Alexander, Intellectual Property Barrister, UKDr. R. A. Mashelkar, Director. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, IndiaDr. Gill Samuels, Senior Director of Science Policy and Scientific Affairs, Pfizer, UKDr. Sandy Thomas, Director, Nuffield Council for Bioethics, UKProfessor Carlos Correa, Professor of Economics, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.