DUSHANBE, September 17, 2015, Asia-Plus – A seminar on ratification of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty took place in Dushanbe on September 16.

The seminar participants included Santosh Kumar Rungta, President of the Asian Blind Union, Kalyk Mambetakunov, Vice-President of the Asian Blind Union, representatives of the Societies for the Blind of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as ambassador of the united States and the United Kingdom, Tajik parliamentarians and others.

Speaking at the seminar, Ms. Gulbahor Ashourova, member of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, noted that the government of Tajikistan paid attention to problems facing people living with disabilities.  “If relevant structures approve the treaty, Tajikistan may ratify it,” she said.

The seminar participants also discussed which government or non-government organization will be involved in implementation of the treaty, if Tajikistan ratifies it.

The Marrakesh VIP Treaty (formally the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities) is a treaty signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, on June 28, 2013.

The treaty focuses on copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of books and other copyrighted works.  It sets a norm for countries ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities, and allowing for the import and export of such materials.  

To-date, eighty countries have signed the treaty, but only nine countries have ratified it so far.  The ratification of 20 states is needed for the treaty to go into effect