 RESTRICTED  
  
WT/ACC/COM/48  
 
6 December 2023 
(23-8283) Page: 1/5 
Working Party on the Accession of the Union of the 
Comoros  Original: English/French  
 
 
ACCESSION OF THE UNION OF THE COMOROS  
QUESTIONS AND REPLIES  
The following submission, dated  6 December  2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Union of the Comoros.  
 
 
 
_______________  
 
  WT/ACC/COM/48  
 
- 2 - 
 
  V. TRADE -RELATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGIME  
Question 1 
We request that a new sub -section on transitional arrangements be added to the Working 
Party Report. The following commitment paragraph should be added to the new 
sub-section:  
- TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS  
New paragraph 273: The representative of Comoros confi rmed that Articles 3, 4 and 5 of 
the WTO Agreement on Trade -Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, providing 
for, inter alia, national treatment and MFN treatment would apply from the date of 
accession. Comoros would ensure that any changes made in its laws, regulations and 
practice during the transition period would not result in a lesser degree of consistency 
with the provisions of the WTO Agreement on Trade -Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights that existed on the date of accession.   He confirmed that the Government 
of Comoros would apply fully the WTO Agreement on Trade -Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights by the end of the transition period, in accordance with the Action Plan 
provided for in Table XX (WT/ACC/COM/23/Rev.XX) .  The Working Party took note of 
these commitments.  
Reply:  
Comoros accepts this commitment paragraph .  
Question 2 
Section V on Trade -Related Intellectual Property Regime  (WT/ACC/SPEC/COM/5/Rev.5 ): 
In several paragraphs, particularly in the subsection covering Copyright and Related 
Rights (paragraphs 239 -256), it is not immediately clear which copyright law the 
paragraphs are referencing —specifically, whether they are referring to the current 
copyri ght law in force, Law No. 20 -004/AU on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 
23 June  2020 ( "Copyright Law of 2020 "), or to the draft revised Law on Copyright and 
Related Rights in the Union of the Comoros ( "draft revised Copyright Law "), which was 
circulate d in September 2023 but is not yet in force.  While most of the paragraphs ' 
references to specific articles are to the 2023 draft revised Copyright Law, some 
paragraphs still refer to articles in the Copyright Law of 2020; and yet almost all are 
described as "the Copyright Law, " without distinction.  Most of the feedback below focuses 
on distinguishing the laws being referenced, such as by referring to the active Copyright 
Law as the "Copyright Law of 2020 " and referring to the 2023 draft revised Copyright Law 
as the "draft revised Copyright Law. " 
Additionally, we understand that the 2023 draft revised Copyright Law is still undergoing 
consultations, and that we will be engaging with Comoros in more detail regarding the 
substantive provisions of the draft re vised law.  
Paragraph 227:  Since this paragraph incorporates pending intellectual property -related 
activity, consider also referencing the draft revised Copyright Law in addition to the 
Copyright Law of 2020.  This would be a helpful guidepost, as several of the subs equent 
paragraphs reference specific articles from the draft revised Copyright Law.    
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted.  
Question 3 
Paragraph 239:  This paragraph opens by stating that copyright protection is prescribed 
under the Copyright Law of 2020, but the articles that the paragraph cites from that law WT/ACC/COM/48  
 
- 3 - 
 
  (articles 7, 8, and 9) cover non -protected subject matter (article 7), moral rights (article 
8), and economic rights (article 9), which are too limiting to be characteriz ed as covering 
"copyright protection " more broadly.  Consider referring to the Copyright Law of 2020 as 
a whole and omitting any reference to specific articles.    
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 4 
Paragraph 240:  Since the preceding paragraph refers to the Copyright Law of 2020, the 
initial sentence of this paragraph should clarify that "Article 3 of Annex VII " refers to the 
Bangui Agreement.  
Separately, the other articles of the "Copyright Law " cited in this par agraph all refer to 
the 2023 draft revised Copyright Law.  However, the reader would likely assume that the 
cited articles refer to the provisions in the Copyright Law of 2020, since that law is 
discussed in the previous paragraph (239) and is the only cop yright law identified in the 
document so far.  For clarity, consider placing a version of the opening sentence from 
Paragraph 241 as the second sentence in this paragraph, such as: "The representative of 
Comoros added that Comoros is in the process of revi sing Law No. 20 -004/AU of 
23 June  2020 on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights of 23 June 2020 " (and removing that 
language from paragraph 241).   
Regarding the subsequent references to the "Copyright Law " in this paragraph, they could 
then be replaced with the "draft revised Copyright Law " or something similar.  Toward 
the end of this paragraph, the citation for the terms of protection for 
phonograms/audiovisual/videograms should be corrected to Article 65  of the draft 
revised Copyright Law, while the citation for the term of protection for broadcasts should 
be corrected to Article 66 of the draft revised Copyright Law. (Both currently reference 
Article  64).   
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 5 
Paragraph 241:  We recommend clarifying that the articles in this paragraph refer to the 
draft revised Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 6 
Paragraph 242:  We recommend clarifying that the articles in this paragraph refer to the 
draft revised Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 7 
Paragraph 243:  In the first sentence, "Article 69 of the Copyright Law " should be clarified 
to refer to the Copyright Law of 2020.  The reference to "Article 59 of the Copyright Law " 
in the second sentence should be clarified to refer to the draft revised Copyright Law.  WT/ACC/COM/48  
 
- 4 - 
 
  The reference to "the third paragraph of Article 1 " in the third sentence refers to the 
Copyright Law of 2020.  However, for consistency within the paragraph, Comoros may 
wish to refer instead to the language of the relevant provision from the draft revised 
Copyright Law, which has been amended to be a com bination of Article 1(xii) and 
Article  1(xiii).  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 8 
Paragraph 246:  This paragraph refers to "the legislation in force, namely the Copyright 
Law, " but tracks the language in the draf t revised Copyright Law, which is not yet in force.  
This paragraph also refers to "co-sponsors, " while the legislation uses the term 
"co-authors. "   
Reply:  
This is a translation error. The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 9 
Paragraph 247:  We recommend clarifying that the articles in this paragraph refer to the 
draft revised Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 10 
Paragraph 248:  We recommend clarifying that the last sentence in this paragraph refers 
to the draft revised Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 11 
Paragraph 249:  The reference to "Article 6 " in the first sentence should be clarified to 
refer to the Copyri ght Law of 2020, while "Articles 4, 5, and 6 " in the last sentence should 
be clarified to refer the draft revised Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph will be redrafted . 
Question 12 
Paragraphs 250 -256: The articles in these paragraphs all refer to the draft revised 
Copyright Law.  
Reply:  
The relevant paragraph s will be redrafted . WT/ACC/COM/48  
 
- 5 - 
 
  Question 13 
WT/ACC/COM/23/R ev.7 - Revised Action Plans - Table 2 (TRIPS -Related Measures), 
page  5:  The row for "Technical and financial support " lists "Creation of a database 
containing all intellectual property titles " as an action to be taken.  We recommend 
clarifying that this means all intellectual property titles that have been registered 
with OCPI.   
Reply:  
The database con taining all intellectual property titles, as mentioned in the revised Action Plans of 
11 September 2023, is to cover all intellectual property titles registered with the OCPI.  
Question 14 
WT/ACC/COM/9/R ev.8 - Legislative Action Plan - Part I, page 2:  The "Intellectual 
property " entry for the "Revision of the Law on copyright and related rights " states that 
both the date of adoption/enactment and the date of implementation are estimated to be 
in 2024.  Previous revisions of the Copyright La w (Law No. 20 -004/AU of 23 June 2020, 
as described in Part II on page 9) included approximately one year between the date of 
adoption/enactment and the date of implementation.  Is there additional context for the 
shorter timeline for this latest revision?  
Reply:  
Generally, the date of enactment of laws in the Union of the Comoros is decided by the President of 
the Republic. This date shall not extend beyond 3 months.  
The implementation of the revised Law on copyright and related rights is scheduled for th e end 
of 2024 as indicated in the Action Plan.  
 
 
__________  