"Article 27.3 b is a major cause of concern for India," said Special Secretary, WTO, Commerce Ministry, N N Khanna while addressing a workshop organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He said countries must form a system of rights over their bio-diversity and the benefits from such knowledge when it is commercialised must be shared by the people. The article 27.3 B which spelt out the patent and sui generis obligations for plants, animals, micro-organisms but has made no provisions for patentability of community knowledge, he said.

Khanna said said the conflict between the developed and developing countries within the framework of the TRIPs agreement was that developed countries were systematically trying to make patentscompulsory for as many products and processes as possible, while developing countries were not for such changes.

The object of protecting intellectual property was to advance economic growth as well as the transfer of technologies. In a framework where intellectual property was too rigidly protected, transfer of technology to developing countries would not happen.

Khanna said the conflicting views of the developed and the developing countries on what the agenda should be for the review in the year 2000 of article 27.3B developed countries felt it should examine the need for widening the scope of the agreement while the developing countries felt it should be a review of implementation.

Developing countries also felt that under the TRIPs agreement, dispute settlement, under the WTO norms should be allowed in cases where countries had fulfilled their obligations but had harmed other countries an option that was allowed under all other WTO agreements. He took the example of the Ministry of Environment andForests that has formed a committee for sharing benefits on conserving traditional knowledge.

The provisions of the TRIPs, which came into effect as early as in 1995 were to be implemented in phases in the signatory countries. The agreement required a one-year transition period for developed countries to bring their legislation and practices into conformity. Developing countries in transition like those in the process of transformation from a centrally planned to a market economy had a five year transition period.

The agreement addresses the applicability of basic GATT principles and those relevant international intellectual property agreements, the provision of adequate intellectual property rights, the provision of effective enforcement measures for those rights, multilateral dispute settlement and transitional arrangements.

Khanna recommended the formulation of provisions under the TRIPs agreement to facilitate the transfer of technology to the developing world.