202. The representative of Brazil said that, in April 2012, the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, had visited the United States. In the joint statement issued on that occasion, Presidents Rousseff and Barack Obama "reaffirmed the commitment of both countries to the conclusion of an effective international instrument in WIPO that ensures that copyright is not a barrier to equal access to information, culture, and education for visually impaired persons and persons with print disabilities".
203. Together with the United States, his delegation had asked for a specific agenda item to be included on the Council's agenda to discuss that particular issue for two reasons. Firstly, a briefing on the negotiations underway in WIPO was no doubt relevant to the membership of the Council. The WTO and WIPO were the only international organizations with multilateral mandates to oversee the working of the international IP system and to negotiate IP issues. The work of the two Organizations was by definition interlinked in the area of IPRs. The second reason for a briefing at that stage was its timeliness in view of the negotiations having made a good deal of progress, but further intergovernmental engagement would nonetheless be needed to complete them successfully.
204. The chief aim of the instrument under negotiation at WIPO was to respond to a challenge resulting from a systemic flaw in the copyrights system. The existing legal framework had simply been unable to provide the incentives that were necessary to increase the supply of books and works in formats accessible by persons with print disabilities.
205. It was estimated that, even in rich countries, no more than five per cent of published works were available in such formats - a clear situation of market failure. In order to remedy that, the negotiations at WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights (SCCR) proposed a regime of clearly circumscribed exceptions and limitations that contemplated essentially two issues: (i) the establishment of a minimum degree of harmonization of exceptions and limitations existing within national legislations; and (ii) the possibility of a trans-border flow of works in accessible format. Both issues went hand in hand. A significant increase in trans-border flows of works in accessible format depended to a large extent on progress in making national legislations compatible with that aim.
206. The instrument under negotiation was intended to help meet the needs of a specific community that had been suffering from a so-called "book famine". At the same time, it was being designed to ensure a greater level of legal stability and predictability to actions undertaken within the scope of the anticipated exceptions and limitations, thereby strengthening the copyright system.
207. Negotiations in the SCCR had commenced in 2009 when a small group of Latin-American countries, including Brazil, had tabled a treaty proposal drafted by the World Blind Union, the most important intergovernmental organization representing visually-impaired persons worldwide. Different proposals were later on submitted by the African Group, the European Union and the United States. All of them had represented major contributions to the process. Since 2011, negotiations had gained momentum, and a growing number of countries from various regions and at different stages of development had been working on a single draft text.
208. While there were points still under negotiation, progress had been steady and he hoped that a diplomatic conference would be convened with the aim of concluding the negotiation of an international instrument that would benefit persons with print disabilities. He was, moreover, hopeful that more countries would join the efforts and engage constructively in the negotiations. Lastly, his delegation was convinced that only a treaty that created an effective regime would be capable of providing persons with print disabilities with expanded access to education and knowledge and therefore with an adequate framework for the full enjoyment of human rights.
