1 INTRODUCTION
1. The Council for Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has requested reports from developed country members on their technical and financial cooperation programmes in favour of developing and least developed country members.
2. This document provides an update on New Zealand's activities concerning technical and financial cooperation in the area of intellectual property (IP), for the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
3. This request relates to Article 67 of the TRIPS Agreement which provides that "developed country Members shall provide, on request and on mutually agreed terms and conditions, technical and financial cooperation in favour of developing and least developed country Members this shall include assistance in the preparation of laws and regulations on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as the prevention of their abuse, and shall include support regarding the establishment or reinforcement of domestic offices and agencies relevant to these matters, including the training of personnel".
2 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF NEW ZEALAND'S TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES
4. New Zealand has undertaken technical cooperation activities at the multilateral, regional and bilateral during the 2016/2017 year. At the regional level, New Zealand's bilateral and regional trade agreements provide a mechanism for policy dialogue and information exchange on IP with developing country members.
5. The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) has an intellectual property committee, where parties exchange information on intellectual property issues of mutual interest and coordinate capacity building and technical assistance programmes within the region. This year New Zealand co-chaired the AANZFTA Intellectual Property Committee meeting in Indonesia and New Zealand attended a leads-level meeting of the Intellectual Property Committee.
6. The primary New Zealand Government agencies that are involved in IP technical cooperation activities are the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), of which both the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) and Plant Variety Rights Office are business units, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
3 THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF NEW ZEALAND
7. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) provides on-going technical assistance on request to developing and least developed countries. New Zealand will continue to support future work, on request, to improve the intellectual property systems of developing countries.
8. IPONZ is recognised for its efficient and effective online services, high quality examination and registration processes. As a result, IPONZ hosts delegations and study visits from developing and least developed countries to provide practical training and knowledge sharing.
9. This year IPONZ hosted a delegate from the Samoan Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour with an interest in building capability and knowledge about online systems. IPONZ provided information and training on its online case management system and registers.
10. IPONZ also hosted a delegation from the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam on intellectual property enforcement and the structure and role of IPONZ and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
4 THE PLANT VARIETY RIGHTS OFFICE
11. New Zealand has been a member of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) since 1981. New Zealand, through the Plant Variety Rights (PVR) Office, actively participates in the UPOV Council, Administration and Legal Committee, the Technical Committee and in some of the Technical Working Parties.
12. The IPONZ Plant Variety Rights team acts as advisor to the East Asia Plant Variety Protection Forum. The team provides technical assistance by correspondence on request to forum members and participates in technical meetings by invitation.
13. An IPONZ representative from the Plant Variety Rights Office delivered a series of lectures on Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) Testing as part of a training programme for developing countries organised by the Korean International Cooperation Agency and the Korean Seeds Variety Services. Participating students were from Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Philippines, Ghana and Sudan. The PVR team also hosted a delegation from the Korean Seed and Variety Service.
14. On two separate occasions an IPONZ representative was a tutor for sessions of the UPOV distance learning programme with students from East and South East Asian states.
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's International Development Group
15. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) manages the New Zealand Aid Programme. The majority of New Zealand's aid is directed to developing and least developed country members in the Pacific and key partners in Asia. The New Zealand Aid Programme has a core focus on sustainable economic development. This includes supporting opportunities for private-sector led growth so that producers can increase the value from their production and resources, including their intellectual property. Further detail on programmes of relevance to TRIPS Article 67 can be found in New Zealand's report on the implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
