WO/GA/28/2 Page 2 WIPO E WO/GA/28/2 ORIGINAL English DATE

wo/ga/28/2 page 2 wipo e wo/ga/28/2 original: english date: august 19, 2002 world intellectual property organizat

WO/GA/28/2
page 2
WIPO

E
WO/GA/28/2
ORIGINAL: English
DATE: August 19, 2002
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION
GENEVA
wipo general assembly
Twenty-Eighth (13th Extraordinary) Session
Geneva, September 23 to October 1, 2002
POLICY ADVISORY COMMISSION (PAC)
Memorandum of the Director General
1 The Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO approved, in their
thirty-second series of meetings, from March 25 to 27, 1998, the
proposal contained in the 1998-1999 biennial Program and Budget to
establish the Policy Advisory Commission (PAC), comprised of eminent
individuals from a wide range of policy backgrounds. It was noted that
“the policy-making and medium-term planning processes of WIPO, its
responsiveness to international trends and technological developments,
and its capacity to anticipate and to meet the needs of the market
sector and users of global protection systems, would benefit
considerably from the availability of informed and objective advice
from eminent international experts from a broad range of fields with
bearing on intellectual property cooperation and WIPO’s operations”
(see document A/32/2 - WO/BC/18/2, Sub-program 01.3).
2 The mandate of this independent advisory body was defined in the
same document
(see Sub-program 01.3) and reaffirmed in the most recent Program and
Budget of the Organization (see WO/PBC/4/2, Sub-program 02.2). The PAC
was to “identify and comprehensively review issues that may need to be
dealt with by WIPO, or that may have bearing on its operations, and
formulate recommendations for policy development and enhancement of
WIPO’s operations.”
3 It should be noted that the role of the two Commissions is strictly
advisory and consultative and shall “never replace or diminish the
role of the Member States in the initiation and monitoring of the
program of the Organization.” WO/PBC/4/2 reiterates that “advisory
input continues to be ancillary only, and does not replace or diminish
the role of the Member States in the initiation and monitoring of the
programs of the Organization”.
4 The third meeting of the PAC took place on October 11, 2001, at the
WIPO Headquarters. Twenty-one members attended the meeting, as well as
one representative of a member, and its report to the Director General
of WIPO is contained in Annex I. The list of participants at the
meeting is contained in Annex II. A meeting of the Task Force of the
PAC took place in Beijing on May 22, 2002.
5 The General Assembly is invited to note and comment on the present
document and the report to the Director General of WIPO.
[Annex I follows]