 Over 600 delegates from WAIPO's 186 member states began work today on finalizing a new international treaty that would ease access to books for the world's more than 300 million blind, visually impaired and print disabled people, more than 90% of whom live in the developing world. The WAIPO Diplomatic Conference for Visually Impaired Persons, hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco, is meeting in Marrakech from June 17 to 28 2013. The signed treaty would culminate years of discussions on bringing access to more published works to the blind, visually impaired and print disabled. This means better access to novels, textbooks and other material for education and enjoyment in formats such as Braille, large print and audio books, which now make up less than 5% of published works. Fewer than 60 countries have special provisions for visually impaired persons in their copyright laws, such as those that allow the production of Braille, large print or digitized audio versions of copyrighted material. Furthermore, because copyright law is territorial, these exemptions usually do not cover the import or the export of works converted into accessible formats, even between countries with similar rules. In a message to the conference read by Morocco's Minister of Communications, His Majesty King Mohammed VI of the Kingdom of Morocco said the time is right for a treaty. Speaking at the opening of the conference, WAIPO Director General Francis Gurry reiterated the importance of the negotiations here in Marrakech. The proposal that is the basis of the Marrakech negotiations would include a requirement for countries to introduce exceptions and limitations in their copyright laws to allow the production of books in accessible formats, as well as to permit the international sharing across borders of accessible format copies for people with print disabilities. Significant progress has been made since the draft treaty text was first presented in May 2009. Provisional agreement has been reached on key elements, but the draft text still contains some issues that require further resolution. The negotiators have the task on the one hand of designing a workable system that would ensure that accessible formats can be produced and exchanged across borders around the world in a simple and easy manner. And on the other hand, of providing assurances to authors and publishers that that system will not expose their assets to misuse in parallel markets that are not intended to serve the visually impaired and the print disabled. And the success of you the negotiators in finding the right balance will ensure the success of this treaty.