WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1952/98 by Anita POLLACK to the Commission. Tropical forest budget line
5. 2. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 31/103 Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (3 September 1998) Article 27. 3(b) of the trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPs) agreement creates an option for World trade organisation (WTO) members to exclude plants and animals from patentability. At European level, the Member States are legally bound by Article 53(b) of the Munich Convention, which expressly excludes plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals from patentability. At Community level Council Regulation (EC) 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (1) provides Community intellectual property rights protection for new plant varieties, as an effective sui generis system within the meaning of Article 27. 3(b), second sentence of the TRIPs agreement. Moreover, Directive 98/ 44/EC of the Parliament and the Council of 6 July 1998 (2) on the legal protection of biotechnology inventions has recently been adopted. Article 4 of the Directive states that inventions which concern plants and animals shall be patentable if the technical feasibility of the invention is not confined to a particular plant or animal variety. It is the view of the Commission that both Community instruments are in full conformity with Article 53(b) of the Munich Convention and with Article 27. 3(b) of the TRIPs agreement. The provisions of Article 27(3) of TRIPs will be reviewed no later than 1 January 1999, but the Commission does not have a firm position on this issue at this stage. (1) OJ L 227, 1. 9. 1994. (2) OJ L 213, 30. 7. 1998. (1999/C 31/139) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1952/98 by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission (30 June 1998) Subject: Tropical forest budget line Since the tropical forest budget Regulation is due to come to an end in the next year or so, will the Commission produce a comprehensive review of all the projects undertaken under this Regulation so as to inform the debate about the future of this action? Answer given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission (22 July 1998) In 1997 the Commission published a mid-term report on cooperation activities financed under budget line B7- 6201 covering the period 1992-1995 (1). An updated report to include 1996 should be published later this year. Both reports include a comprehensive list of all projects financed under the tropical forest budget line, as well as descriptions of some of the highlights of the programme. In addition, the Commission is currently preparing the annual report foreseen in Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) 3062/95 of 20 December 1995 on operations to promote tropical forests (2), with an assessment of the implementation of this Regulation in 1997. This report will be submitted to the Parliament and the Council together with similar reports concerning a number of other budget lines. Since 1996 the Commission has been preparing and financing an evaluation of all tropical forestry actions financed from 1992-1996, in compliance with the tropical forest regulation, and including Asian and Latin America countries (ALA), European development funds (EDF) and non-governmental organisations (NGO) budget lines. This process, which consisted of a desk study, field evaluations, and final synthesis, will be completed shortly. At the same time the Commission is preparing a communication on tropical forest development cooperation to set out an operational strategy for the Community to help solve tropical forestry problems in the future through its various development programmes. (1) ISBN 92 28 0004 0. (2) OJ No 327, 30. 12. 1995