ISLAMABAD, Sept 21: There is no likelihood of an early establishment in Pakistan of the Intellectual Property Authority promised by Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood about three months ago, according to credible indications.

A source in the WTO Wing of Ministry of Commerce, when asked about the state of the preparations in that direction, told Dawn the project was still in the initial stage. The Wing, he said, had only begun to grapple with the task of formulating the legal framework.

After a law to give legal cover to the Authority is promulgated, the government would have to take a decision on the administrative set-up and the kind of personnel who would constitute its manpower, he added.

Another official, associated with the negotiations on the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights agreements under WTO, lamented the lethargy shown by the relevant authorities in preparing the country for safeguarding and protecting traditional knowledge and other forms of intellectual property such as medicine, crafts, plants, etc.

Even President Pervez Musharraf acknowledged the vital importance of the subject in his first speech after taking over the government in October 1999, he recalled. It, however, took the Minister of Commerce well nigh three years to inform the nation that the government had “decided” to set up Intellectual Property Authority.

In fact, some of the firms in Unites States have already made an effort to register as patent some of the substances and plants such as turmeric, garlic and basmati rice. The perceptive people in Pakistan and other developing countries considered these actions as tantamount to “robbing us of our cultural heritage”.

Pakistan is lagging behind most countries of the world in this connection. Having become a signatory to the WTO agreements eight years ago, the government here moved very slowly towards tying up various loose ends to be in a position to implement these and face the challenges associated therewith.

The copyright law was modified in line with the requirements of TRIPS by the Ministry of Education, the patent law by the Ministry of Industries and Production, trade marks law by the Ministry of Commerce and the plant breeders rights law by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock a couple of years ago.

Despite having enacted these laws, the country is still unready to enforce these laws not only to safeguard intellectual property but also to take advantage of the opportunities thrown up by the WTO agreements for marketing the creations of Pakistani artists, craftsmen, innovators, etc.

The creation of the proposed authority is not required under these agreements. It is, nevertheless, necessary to have a single organization to coordinate with all the ministries of the government concerned with various aspects of TRIPS in enforcing these in a manner most beneficial to the national economy, remarked an expert.

The foremost task of such a body would be to create awareness among writers, poets, musicians, craftsmen, artisans and all others who enhance and create intellectual property about their rights, he stressed.

The proposed authority would, therefore, require the kind of personnel who are appropriately sensitive to the intellectual creations of Pakistan’s artists and who hold their wellbeing close to their hearts instead of treating the subject as a captive domain of the bureaucrat.

Going by the pace at which things have been going in the Ministry of Commerce, the Intellectual Property Authority is not expected to see the light of day in the current year.