Brussels, 25/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - At a conference marking the tenth anniversary of the WTO intellectual property rights agreement (TRIPS), European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said that the agreement, although it had shown its value, had not yet completely achieved its goal. He said there was still a huge gap between the declared objective of TRIPS, a world where anyone can benefit from innovation and know-how, and actual reality. (See Europe of 24 June, p. 15, on the conference where Pascal Lamy was speaking.) Well developed global governance is needed if genuine universal protection of intellectual property is to be achieved, explained Lamy, which is why TRIPS should not be considered as an end in itself, but as a first step in a future system of global governance in the field of technology and know-how, alongside other development, trade and technology transfer institutions. Experience shows that intellectual property rights has to be sustained and supported by global public interest since no global intellectual property rights protection system can operate without the support of most of the world's governments or if governments are not prepared to actually apply them. Lamy said that governments will only commit themselves if they believe the system will work in their interests. He said discussion should now start on the future of the international intellectual property rights system such that it will favour development and be compatible with modern technology. The challenge, said Lamy, will be to ensure the system is implementer by countries which often have divergent interests, are at different levels of development and have different experiences in the management of intellectual property rights.