83. The representative of Australia said that, as a megadiverse country with a strong living indigenous cultural heritage, Australia was committed to finding a solution to the problem of misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge and was actively engaged in discussions on this issue in various forums. However, her delegation was not convinced that the solution as proposed in document TN/C/W/52 was the best approach to address this issue. Australia considered that WIPO was a more appropriate forum to deal with issues surrounding the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. Australia was constructively engaged in the WIPO IGC and welcomed the recent renewal of the IGC mandate, which would enable it to continue its work on traditional knowledge and folklore and include an outcome oriented accelerated work programme towards a possible negotiation of an international instrument. Her delegation joined Argentina, El Salvador and others in rejecting the artificial parallelism that some Members were promoting in relation to the issues of TRIPS/CBD, GI register and GI extension, particularly through the draft modalities as contained in document TN/C/W/52. In her view, these issues should be dealt with separately and on their own merits. The linking of the TRIPS/CBD issue with the GI issues was likely to hold back the process.
