WIPO GENERAL ASSEMBLY TAKES OFF AMIDST CONTROVERSY OVER IDRIS' AGE

As the World Intellectual Property Organization's annual General Assembly kicked off on 24 September, member delegations were preoccupied by an issue that had nothing to do with intellectual property, development, or innovation: the age of WIPO Director-General Kamil Idris.

WIPO's highest decision-making body will meet through 3 October, and is set to consider the future of the 'development agenda', a series of proposals to integrate development concerns into all of the institution's activities.

However, as the meeting opened, delegates focused mainly on a provisional agenda item with the unrevealing title of "WIPO Internal Audit Report Number IAOD/INV/2006/2 of November 2006 and Appropriate Follow-up Thereto." This report confirmed explosive allegations that Idris had changed his official year of birth from 1945 to 1954 in WIPO records after joining the institution. Being born in 1945 would have allowed Idris to be hired at a more senior level; subsequently changing it to 1954 would have created potential for financial benefits upon leaving his job. Idris' conduct violated staff rules, the audit found.

Prior to the meeting, the US managed to secure the confidential report's place on the provisional agenda, setting the stage for a discussion of Idris' fitness to continue at the helm of WIPO. Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Australia, and Canada backed the US' efforts.

Opposing the discussion of the audit was the 53-member African Group, which argued that the age issue was best discussed privately, and was in any case not important enough to cause the Sudanese WIPO chief's dismissal. The WIPO Secretariat, for its part, decried attempts to "destabilise" the organisation, and rejected the suggestions that Idris stood to benefit from the age change. Argentinian Ambassador Alberto Dumont and some other developing country delegates expressed concern that the age issue risked distracting attention from more important issues including the development agenda.

Notably, the UK and the EU did not openly push for the debate on Idris.

On 25 September, a compromise was struck under which a group of 'friends of the chair' would examine the audit and report back to the General Assembly. Sources suggest the group will comprise one official from each of the various regional blocs, as well as alliances such as the EU and the G-77.

The assembly is also set to discuss the fate of moribund discussions on a potential treaty to protect broadcasters' rights, and whether to extend discussions on traditional knowledge and genetic resources.

ICTSD reporting.