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      WO/CC/41/2
      ORIGINAL:       English
      DATE: June 3, 1998

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION
GENEVA

WIPO COORDINATION COMMITTEE

Forty-First (13th Extraordinary) Session
Geneva, July 6 and 7, 1998

NOMINATION OF DEPUTY DIRECTORS GENERAL

prepared by the Director General

1. Article 9(7) of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization provides that the Director General "shall appoint the Deputy Directors General after approval by the Coordination Committee."

2. On assuming office as Director General on November 1, 1997, Dr. Kamil Idris vacated one of the two posts of Deputy Director General then occupied, namely, the post of Deputy Director General to be occupied by a national of a developing country. In the present document, the Director General nominates a candidate to occupy that vacant post. In addition, the Director General proposes that the post of a third Deputy Director General, which has been vacant since 1991, be filled and nominates a candidate to occupy that post.

Number of Deputy Directors General

3. In 1973, the WIPO General Assembly decided that there should be three posts of Deputy Director General, one to be "occupied by a national of a socialist country, one by a national of a developing country and one by a national of one of the other countries" (document WO/GA/II/7, paragraphs 24 and 31).

4. From 1973 to 1991, in accordance with the decision of the WIPO General Assembly mentioned in the previous paragraph, there were at all times three Deputy Directors General. In 1991, on the expiration of the term of one of the three incumbent Deputy Directors General, Mr. Lev Kostikov, then a national of the former Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), the WIPO Coordination Committee decided, having regard to the dissolution of the USSR, to refer the question of the post of Deputy Director General to be filled by a national of a socialist country to the WIPO General Assembly (document WO/CC/XXIX/4, paragraph 30). The question was never considered by the WIPO General Assembly and the third post of Deputy Director General has remained unoccupied since 1991.

5. The Director General considers that the size of the Secretariat, the efficient, organic deployment of the Secretariat and the effective implementation of the Organization's program of activities warrant the re-filling of the third post of Deputy Director General. The 1973 decision of the WIPO General Assembly to institute three posts of Deputy Director General remains legally operative. When the decision was taken in 1973, the Secretariat consisted of approximately 143 persons. At the present time, the Secretariat comprises 810 persons, including consultants and short-term staff.

6. The appointment of a third Deputy Director General would not require any budgetary allocation additional to those foreseen in the WIPO Program and Budget for 1998-99 approved by the Assemblies of the Member States in March 1998, since that Budget already made provision for the third post of Deputy Director General.

Appointment of Mr. Roberto Castelo to the Post of Deputy Director General to be Occupied by a National of a Developing Country

7. As mentioned above, the post of Deputy Director General to be occupied by a national of a developing country has been vacant since the Director General assumed office on November 1, 1997.

8. The post of Deputy Director General to be occupied by a national of a developing country has, since its inception, been filled in accordance with a principle of rotation of the post among the three regional groups. The following persons have occupied the post since 1973:

· Mrs. Ketty Lina Liguer-Laubhouet (Côte d'Ivoire) 1975 - 1980;

· Mr. Marino Porzio (Chile) 1981 - 1987;

· Mr. Shahid Alikhan (India) 1988 - 1993;

· Mr. Kamil Idris (Sudan) 1994 - 1997.

9. In accordance with the above-mentioned principle, the post now falls to be filled by a national of a country from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries.

10. Following consultations, the Director General proposes, for the approval of the Coordination Committee, that Mr. Roberto Castelo, a national of Brazil, be appointed to the post of Deputy Director General. In order to align the duration of the appointment of Mr. Castelo to the duration of the appointment of the Deputy Director General at present in office, Mr. François Curchod, which expires on November 30, 2001, it is proposed that Mr. Castelo be appointed as Deputy Director General for the period until November 30, 2001. The curriculum vitae of Mr. Roberto Castelo is set out in Annex I to the present document.

Appointment of Mr. Shozo Uemura to the Third Post of Deputy Director General

11. Following consultations, the Director General considers that the third post of Deputy Director general should be considered available to be filled without a pre-established connection to any specific group of countries. The Director General proposes, for the approval of the Coordination Committee, that Mr. Shozo Uemura, a national of Japan, be appointed to the post of Deputy Director General. For the purpose of aligning the duration of the appointments of Deputy Directors General, it is proposed that Mr. Uemura be appointed as Deputy Director General for the period until November 30, 2001. The curriculum vitae of Mr. Shozo Uemura is set out in Annex II to the present document.