The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly yesterday examined the bill instituting African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI).

Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly met yesterday November 14, 2016, at the Ngoa-Ekelle Glass House to scrutinise the bill to authorise the President of the Republic to ratify the Bangui Agreement instituting an African Intellectual Property Organisation revised in Bamako, Mali on December 14, 2015.

The Minister of Mines and Technological Development, Ernest Gwaboubou, defended the bill in commission in the presence of the representative of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with the Assemblies, Public Service Minister, Michel Ange Angoiung, and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth, Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute.

The Foreign Affairs Committee, under the leadership of Hon. Enow Tanjong, was debriefed on the merits of the bill such as adapting the Bangui Agreement which was adopted on March 2, 1977, to the present global context, notably the trade-related aspects of the intellectual property rights, amongst others. The main amendment concerns the extension of OAPI’s missions, settlement of intellectual property disputes, and improvement on the registration marks, amongst others.