6f intellectual property rights. Reference could also be made to relevant articles of other treaties, such as the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. In this regard, the Committee recalls previous statements it has made in which it emphasized that the realms of trade, finance and investment are in no way exempt from human rights principles and that "| ntemational organizations with specific systems. To be consistent with obligations to respect international human rights, intellectual property regimes must promote and protect all human rights, including the full range of rights guaranteed in the Covenant. 6. Thefact thatthe human person is the central subject and primary beneficiary of human rights distinguishes constructive role in relation to human rights.”? human rights, including the right of authors to the moral and material interests in their works, from legal rights recognized in intellectual property systems. Human 4. rights responsibilities in those areas should play a positive and Article 15.1 (c) of the Covenant, together with article 27 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, requires the protection of the moral and material interests of authors in their works. The Committee considers that these intellectual property rights must be balanced with the right to take part in cultural life? and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.* Moreover, article 15.2 of the Covenant requires that States parties undertake steps necessary for the conservation, development and diffusion of science and culture. To be consistent with a human rightsbased approach, intellectual! property regimes should be conducive to realizing these goals. The Committee therefore encourages the development of intellectual property systems and the use of intellectual property rights in a balanced manner that meets the objective of providing protection for the moral and material interests of authors, and at the same time promotes the enjoyment of these and other human rights. Ultimately, intellectual property Is a social product and has a social function. The end which intellectual property protection should serve is the objective of human well-being, to which international human rights instruments give legal expression. Universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights * are entitlements situations fundamental, belonging groups of inalienable to individuals, individuals and and and universal in some communities. Human rights are fundamental as they derive from the human person as such, whereas intellectual property rights derived from intellectual property systems are instrumental, in that they are a means by which States seek to provide incentives for inventiveness and creativity from which society benefits. In contrast with human rights, intellectual property of a temporary nature, and can be assigned to someone else.® While rights may be allocated, limited rights are generally revoked, licensed or intellectual property in time and scope, traded, amended and even forfeited, human rights are timeless expressions of fundamental entitlements of the human person. Whereas human rights are dedicated to assuring satisfactory standards of human welfare and well-being, intellectual property regimes, although they traditionally provide protection to individual authors and creators, are increasingly focused on protecting business and corporate interests and investments. Moreover, the scope of protection of the moral and material interests of the author provided for under article 15 of the Covenant does not necessarily coincide with what is termed intellectual property rights under national legislation or international agreements, Equality and non-discrimination 5: Human rights derive from the inherent dignity and worth of all persons, with the human person as the central subject and primary beneficiary of human rights.> The moral and legal guarantees of fundamental di Human rights are based on the equality of all persons and their equal standing before the law. For that reason, human rights instruments place great emphasis freedoms, derive on protection against discrimination. Articles 2.2 and 3 from and support people’s self-respect and dignity. Consequently, the entire range of civil, cultural, €conomic, political and social rights, as well as the right of the Covenant stipulate that States parties undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the Covenant must be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and to ensure the equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of all the rights set forth in the Covenant. protections are entitlements relevant to both intellectual property Statement of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural ans to the Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, 26 November 1999 (E/C.12/1999/9). Article 15.1 (e of the Covenant. Un 2 Gu to development, and Article 15.1 (b) of the Covenant. | See e.g. the Preambles to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. See also article Lo the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of ion. 8. A human rights-based particularly on the needs 6 Report of the High approach of the most focuses disadvantaged Commissioner on the impact of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property art on human Fights, E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/13, 27 June 2001, paragraph 14, GENERAL COMMENTS AND STATEMENTS 59