Global Policy Forum

By Amos Safo

Ghana is believed to have one of the largest collection of traditional knowledge in the form of folklore, proverbs, traditional music, herbal medicine, traditional symbols and kente etc. in Africa, but whether the country actually benefits from these gifts of nature is anyone's guess.

The country is also on record as having the largest documentation of industrial designs in Africa. According to figures released by copyright experts, there are about 30,000 textile designs with the kente being the most popular and internationally recognised industrial design. Yet the textile industry is virtually facing the stiffest competition from foreign textiles.

Traditional knowledge, on one level plays a vital role in the economic and social organisation of developing countries by fostering a sense of national identity. Sadly, many developing countries have inadequate or no representation in Geneva to negotiate on a day to day basis on issues bordering on intellectual property at the WTO.

International trade in goods embodying intellectual property rights grew steadily in the 1980s and 90s, in part reflecting the increasing share of high technology goods.

The TRIPS agreement is a good example of how multilateral cooperation in trade is being included in 'behind-the-border regulatory regimes. A clause in the TRIPS agreement requires governments to afford patent protection for genetically engineered animals and plants. It also requires that intellectual rights on plant varieties be protected through patenting.

One of the main areas of concern for Africa with the implementation of TRIPS agreement is its impact on the price of imports of patented products and the level of trade flows and their balance of payments implications.

The implementation of TRIPS agreement and the associated costs of bringing the new legislation into conformity with national laws proves to be a headache for many developing countries. In whatever case, developing countries like Ghana are at the losing end.

"People come here and take our textile designs like the Adinkra to the Far East print them and sell cheaply on the international market", laments Betty Mould- Iddrisu of the Ministry of Justice.

Mould-Iddrisu told participants at the just ended workshop on Development Trade and the WTO that the TRIPS agreement signed by Ghana in 1995 will yield very little benefits, safe opening up Ghana's intellectual property for grabs by western companies.

The former Copy Rights Administrator said when TRIPS was being negotiated African Copy Right experts were not involved. In the case of Ghana, Mould-Iddrisu said government officials returned from the Geneva negotiations and ordered them to start implementing it.

The Minister of Justice, Nana Akufo Addo, supported Mould-Iddrisu's submission. In a paper "Safeguarding Ghana's Interest during Trade Negotiations: An Appropriate Legal Infrastructure" the Minister of Justice said a foreign trade -mix in which Ghana continues to derive 80 percent of her foreign revenue from traditional exports such as cocoa, gold and timber requires an improvement in Ghana's trade negotiations for a better deal.

"Granted that we lacked the capacity to send competent experts to represent government at both the WTO and other multi-lateral negotiations, we cannot escape the necessity of having to evolve principles to improve our performance at such fora."

Nana Addo explained that the outcome of negotiations are contractual in nature and should guide future negotiators. The Justice Minister explained that as a result of Ghana's obligations under the TRIPS agreement the previous government was obliged to effect substantive amendments to our intellectual property laws and implement the new rules by January 2001.

'However due to the complexity of the issues at stake and our own limited capacity and expertise in the matters of intellectual property law, we have been unable to comply with the deadline", lamented Nana Addo.

He announced that plans are advanced to lay seven new bills; namely, Copy Right Patents, Industrial Design, Geographical Indications, Trade Marks and the Topographical Designs before parliament.

With Ghana trailing badly in international trade and patenting her traditional knowledge, the situation could only worsen when the bills become law. In view of the fact that TRIPS could be used to promote cultural-based non-traditional exports, there is a problem of who to give the patent.

For Instance, though Kentey is an acclaimed Ghanaian traditional cloth it is also produced in Cote d'Ivoire and Togo, the issue of which country should possess the patent then arises. Added to this, is the cost involved in patenting and attracting commercial users for the patent. Nevertheless, the issue raises fresh question for renegotiating the TRIPS and other WTO agreements.

The Minister of Justice suggests that there must be uniformity in Ghana's approach towards negotiating multilateral agreements or commercial agreements in future. 'We first need to build up a nucleus of trained negotiators, not necessarily drawn from government employment", he further suggested, adding that hence, the government must ensure that Ghana is well represented at such international negotiations.

In order to ensure that those who represent the country at such meetings take personal responsibility for their actions, Nana Addo pushed for an appropriate legal infrastructure and government machinery to implement that. To make headway the government needs to enlist private sector expertise.

In an earlier presentation, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku told a story of how the Ghanaian delegation to the recent Doha WTO Ministerial Meeting went attending cocktail parties at the invitation of powerful Asian and European delegations because they were under resourced.

He said whereas other countries sent big delegations, including experts, Ghana only managed a skeletal team, making it difficult for them to deliberate at other meetings.

During discussion it came to light that Ghana's delegations to WTO and other international negotiations were drawn from the public service. And because of the per diem accompanying such trips Directors and Chief Directors jostle for selection. Thus they only go to warm benches at these negotiations and come home to claim their per diems to the detriment of the economy.

Given the correlation between trade and accelerated economic growth even the developed countries see trade negotiations as a matter of life and death and would press their views at the cost of anything.

Dr. Charles Jebuni of the Center for Policy Analysis (CEPA) thinks in view of the low levels of savings and investment and the fact that Africa is a net technology importer Africa must seriously examine the implications of the TRIPS agreement and press for changes at the next round of negotiations.

Clearly Africa is not deriving maximum benefits from the TRIPS agreement. Figures available indicate that payment of royalties, licenses, and fees for the use of Africa's intangible assets has been on the decline. Africa's share of total world payments for royalties slummed from 2.9 percent in 1980 to 0.22 percent in 1995.

Dr. Jebuni blames Africa's declining revenue from intellectual property in part on the old technologies of the import-substitution -led industrialization of the 80s. The trend now is an export-led development strategy, including intellectual property.

According to Dr. Jebuni the importance of TRIPS to Africa cannot be judged by the current structure of production, but by the requirements of its development strategy. The huge technological gap between Africa and the developed world creates difficulties for African industries competing within their domestic economies, let alone making it on the international scene.

Jebuni notes that intellectual property rights are critical for the success of the emerging African development strategy and its competitiveness.

But Africa has proved to be her own enemy. While various continents go to the WTO with a united voice, Africa remains a divided force, with each country crying its own cry. Just when economic players on the continent would present a common voice on African issues remains to be seen. One thing is clear-time is not on the side of Africa.

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