Panama, May 15-17, 2002

PRESS COMMUNIQUE

The fifteenth meeting of the FTAA Negotiating Group on Intellectual Property Rights (NGIP) took place in Panama on May 15-17, 2002. Delegates from the following 18 countries were present: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States and Venezuela.

Following the Mandate of the Declaration of Buenos Aires, the NGIP consolidated Part II, Sections 3 (Articles 21-25 only), 4, 7, 12 and 13 (Copyright, Folklore, Traditional Knowledge & Access to Genetic Resources, Unfair Competition, and Anti-Competitive Practices in Contractual Licenses) as well as Parts III-VI (Enforcement, Technical Cooperation, Transitional Provisions and Final Provisions) of the NGIP draft preliminary text. The NGIP also began its review of the structure of the entire Chapter in preparation for its report to Ministers.

The NGIP agreed to update the intellectual property aspects of the Trade-Related Technical Assistance Database, which is available on the FTAA website at http://www.ftaa-alca.org/trt/ta/SearchTACountry.asp

The discussions in the meeting followed the approved agenda (attached). The NGIP discussed all items on the agenda.

The NGIP has received eight civil society submissions since its last meeting, which was held March 4-6, 2002.

The date of the next meeting of the NGIP is June 17-19, 2002.

A list of Governmental Points of Contact for the FTAA may be found at: http://www.ftaa-alca.org/contacts/contpts.asp

More information about the NGIP is available at http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ngroups/ngprop_e.asp