UN patent agency faces prolonged deadlock over top official's age
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
AP
October 4, 2007
The U.N. patent and copyright body could face two years of deadlock after the United States and European countries blocked its US$537 million (euro378 million) biennial budget, while developing countries fiercely defended the agency's top official who used a false birth date for over two decades.
The defeat of the budget just before a midnight (2200 GMT) deadline Wednesday night was symbolically significant for the Western nations frustrated by the agency's inaction on a 2006 internal audit alleging that Director-General Kamil Idris received jobs and won promotions partly on the basis of records he provided indicating a 1945 birth date.
Idris changed his birth to 1954 last year 24 years after he joined the World Intellectual Property Organization possibly enhancing his retirement benefits, the report said. The Associated Press has learned that Idris also made inaccurate claims about his qualifications when he applied for jobs.
The U.S., the 27-nation EU, Switzerland and other wealthy countries challenged Idris to answer the inconsistencies at WIPO's annual assembly, which ended Wednesday. But Idris failed to show up for any sessions focussed on the alleged infractions, and WIPO's large Islamic and African bloc prevented any follow-up to the audit report's findings.
The Sudan-born Idris is not talking to the media, WIPO officials said. He is scheduled to complete his second term in 2009, and has announced that he will not seek a third.
"There are serious questions swirling about the character, judgment and integrity of the director-general," U.S. Ambassador Warren Tichenor said. "We're not after his ouster. We're after a serious, sober and substantive discussion about the internal auditor's report."
Western diplomats are keen to restore confidence in WIPO, which is viewed as an increasingly important organization within the U.N. system because of the growing economic value countries place on copyrights, patents and other means of protecting intellectual property.
The United States is currently examining a range of responses if WIPO member states continue to protect Idris from scrutiny. Possible withdrawal from the organization is being examined, though such a move is not imminent, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of discussions.
Tichenor said he "wouldn't go that far," but added that "the United States would be right to evaluate its relationship with WIPO" if the assembly failed to deliver an agreement.
Washington withdrew from the U.N. labor agency from 1977 to 1980, claiming it was under communist and Arab domination. Washington quit UNESCO in 1984, calling it corrupt and anti-Western, then rejoined in 2003.
Ambassador Clodoaldo Hugueney of Brazil said rejection of the budget would not be devastating to the agency because its rules stipulate that current financial outlays can be carried over until agreement is reached.
WIPO is unique among U.N. agencies because it achieves a multimillion-dollar (-euro) surplus by charging fees on patent registrations and other commercialservices, rather than having member states paying all operating costs.
The WIPO internal audit report was completed in November and subsequently was leaked to the media. It found that Idris' earlier birth date would have helped him get his first job at WIPO in 1982 and later promotions until 1997, when he landed the post of director-general. The audit lists documents, including drivers licenses and identity cards, some using one birth year and others using the other.
Idris has always denied he tried to profit from the age change, blaming the discrepancy on a typographical error.
The audit report also raised other questions. Idris' 1982 application said he obtained a master's degree in international law from Ohio University in 1978.
But Jessica Stark, spokeswoman for the university, told the AP that Idrisattended from Sept. 12, 1977, to June 10, 1978, when he received a Master of Arts in African Studies.
Adding to the confusion, the audit said Idris registered at the university with a third birth date Aug. 26, 1953, a year earlier than the revised date.
