Report of the 11th Session of the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore

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Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) as a permanent observer at WIPO, and as one of the organizations that has been instrumental in its creation in 2000. This meeting was the last of the ones under the 2005 WIPO General Assembly Mandate to “accelerate its work”, “to focus particularly on the international dimension of intellectual property, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and TCEs1” and “to exclude no outcome”, including the possible development of an international instrument in this field”.2 The final twosessions were meant to be devoted to more substantive discussions rather than the arguments about how to proceed that had dominated the earlier part of this mandate. Under a decision from the 10th session, to facilitate substantive discussion, several issues and questions were put forward to be addressed in two documents including comments from member states and observers collated during an intersessional process, one on Traditional Cultural Expressions (WIPO/GRTKF/IC/11/4(a)) and one on Traditional Knowledge (WIPO/GRTKF/IC/11/5(a)).

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