The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas needs “a world class intellectual property rights system”, a leading private sector executive said yesterday, as the Government unveiled a seven-strong Bill package designed to bring this nation in line with “international best practices” and World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirements.

Winston Rolle, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, told Tribune Business that the legislative upgrades were critical to not only protecting Bahamian innovation and exports, but encouraging companies and industries to invest in the Bahamas.

Confirming that the Government had unveiled the new intellectual property rights regime for public consultation, Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, said the Bills would make Bahamian legislation “consistent” with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) standards.

The Bills - the Copyright Bill, Trade Marks Bill, Patents Bill, False Trade Descriptions Bill, Integrated Circuits Bill, Geographical Indications Bill and Protection of New Plant Varieties Bill - are also intended to make the Bahamas compliant with its intellectual property rights obligations under the WTO and Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

That much is clear from the ‘Objects and Reasons’ sections of many of these Bills. For example, the Copyright Bill states: “The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2013 seeks to modernise the law regarding copyright by ensuring that the rights of Bahamians are adequately protected, and the provisions contained therein are consistent and in compliance with the Bahamas’ existing or anticipated future obligations under various international agreements, including those of the World Trade Organisation.”

Ditto the Geographical Indications Bill, which adds: “This Bill seeks to provide for the protection of geographical indications in order to meet the standards set by the World Trade Organisation on trade related aspects of intellectual property rights.”

Mr Pinder told Tribune Business that the Government was “actively pushing” legislation related to trade and its agreement commitments, with a similar consultation exercise involving sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) Bills also set to be undertaken soon.

And he disclosed that the Government was also trying to engage the Caribbean Regional Organisation on Standards and Quality (CROSQ) to help with the creation, and necessary infrastructure, for the Bahamas’ own Standards Bureau.

Mr Pinder said the Government was hoping CROSQ could perform a “gap analysis”, identifying what was missing and the resources needed to establish the Standards Bureau “infrastructure”.

With the third meeting of the Working Group dealing with the Bahamas’ accession to full WTO membership set to meet at Easter-time, Mr Pinder said: “We’re actively working from a technical point of view and legislative point of view. There’s been significant advances in that regard from multiple perspectives behind the scenes.

“We’ve launched the intellectual property rights amendments for consultation. It’s there online for the public to review for comment purposes.”

Promising that meetings would be held on the proposed legislation in Nassau, Grand Bahama, Abaco and Eleuthera, the Minister told Tribune Business: “The intellectual property legislation is to bring us consistent with international best practices, consistent with WIPO standards and consistent with our obligations under the Economic Partnership Agreement, and with the WTO and Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).”

Although he had yet to review the legislation, Mr Rolle said the protection of innovation and creativity in the Bahamas was of “paramount” importance to its economy.

Noting that it was also important in the context of the Bahamas’ trade agreement push, given the EPA and the “full speed ahead” move to join the WTO, Mr Rolle said intellectual property rights protections were a key consideration for businesses when they looked to invest in a jurisdiction.

“We have to realise that putting a proper intellectual property rights system in place is not just designed to stop Bahamians selling pirated, black market DVDs, but also to protect Bahamian intellectual property, as we have our music, our handicrafts industry, and software development as well,” the BCCEC chief executive told Tribune Business.

Noting that services had, in many instances, surpassed goods as the most widely traded sector in the global economy, Mr Rolle said the services trade was “very much intertwined” with intellectual property rights.

“When we talk about some of the things we’re looking to exploit opportunities in outside tourism and financial services, and even in financial services, intellectual property is a key element for people to have in encouraging them to invest and do business,” he told Tribune Business.

“They see intellectual property as one of the pillars of them doing business in a country, as they need assurance, especially in the production of services, that their intellectual property is protected.

“It’s important we have a world class intellectual property system in place to address any issues,” Mr Rolle said. “I don’t think we’ve had the kind of focus we probably should have had in the past.

“We’re new to this trading environment, and a number of things that we’re going to have to put in place are not only to be in compliance, but to also offer a competitive environment to attract the right type of businesses to participate in our economy.”