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Member States Support Draft Program and Budget for 2000-2001

Geneva, April 28, 1999
Press Releases PR/1999/168

The member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) expressed support on Wednesday for the draft program and budget for the 2000-2001 biennium presented by WIPO Director General, Dr. Kamil Idris. It will be formally submitted to the WIPO Assemblies for adoption in September. At a meeting of the Program and Budget Committee on 26 and 28 April, widespread appreciation was expressed for the transparent and results-based approach adopted by the Organization for the proposed program and budget. This greatly facilitated examination by the delegates and contributed to the consensus support expressed by member states on the draft proposals.

The draft program and budget for the 2000-2001 biennium, described by Dr. Idris as a "global intellectual property development strategy" taking a "do more with less" approach, proposes a budget of 409.7 million Swiss Francs (CHF). This represents an increase of 8.1 per cent over the 1998-1999 biennium (378.9 million CHF). Projected income for the same time period is 409.8 million CHF as compared to 391.8 million CHF in the previous financial period. The surplus in the 2000-2001 biennium is therefore expected to be negligible.

Another feature is a reduction in the contributions by member states of 10 per cent below the 1999 level, which is in itself 10 per cent below the 1998 level. Unlike other specialized agencies of the United Nations, WIPO is mostly self-financed, generating its income from the international registration services it renders to the private sector.

The program and budget also contains a proposal to once again lower the fees of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) by an average of 13 per cent effective January 1, 2000. The cumulative effect of this measure (including two earlier PCT fee reductions in 1998 and 1999) would mean a 29.2 per cent reduction in the income of the PCT.

The program and budget for 2000-2001 seeks to ensure that WIPO continues as a modern, forward-looking organization that is efficient, transparent and accountable to its member states and the private sector that it services. Emphasis will continue to be placed on modernizing and strengthening the global intellectual property system, streamlining international cooperation in the field of intellectual property and increasing the participation of civil society in further developing the intellectual property system. WIPO will also continue to offer technical cooperation programs for developing countries and countries in transition.

At this week's meeting of the Program and Budget Committee, member states expressed broad support for the approach taken by the Director General of WIPO in presenting the proposed budget and program. Many delegations lauded the transparency and the results-oriented methodology that characterized the process. One delegation noted that WIPO was viewed as one of, if not the leading, United Nations organization in respect of transparency, results-based budgeting and accountability. For the first time, WIPO's draft program and budget includes performance indicators that will allow member states, when the time comes, to assess the extent to which the expected results have been achieved.

After discussions on the draft, which were preceded by two rounds of informal consultations in January and March, representatives of the regional groups expressed their opinions on the proposals. There was total support for the inclusion of performance indicators in the program and budget. Delegations said that this reflected WIPO's commitment to transparency and accountability. The approach was deemed helpful in enhancing understanding of WIPO's activities. Speakers also welcomed the focus that was placed on areas of activity such as cooperation for development, the international registration services and the progressive development of international intellectual property law, as well as on the intellectual property aspects of electronic commerce and such new fields as folklore, traditional knowledge and biotechnology. They also praised the emphasis on consultation, transparency, modernization and management reform.

Some countries expressed concern at the increase in the budget, saying they would have preferred a zero-growth budget. The Director General explained that WIPO is unlike other UN specialized agencies in that it is mostly self-financing and that there is an ever-growing demand for WIPO services by the business community, not to mention the importance of helping countries implement the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) after January 1, 2000. He also underlined the fact that an increase in the budget did not imply an increase in the contributions of member states. In fact, the new program and budget proposes a decrease in the contributions by member states.

At the end of the discussions, the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Arturo Hernández Basave (Mexico), said there seemed to be very broad support for the content and format of the program and budget document. Summing up the session's deliberations, he said that though some questions were raised - as is normal in any budget process - there was overall consensus support for the Director General's proposals.

The program and budget document is available on the Internet at https://www.wipo.int. For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:

Tel: (+41 22) 338 8161; (+41 22) 338 95 47
Fax: (+41 22) 338 88 10
E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int

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