Front Page	E-mail PagePrint Version

Country is one of nine around the world named in new US government report

WASHINGTON, DC – 05/15/08 – Russia has taken new steps to challenge intellectual property pirates, but must implement even tougher enforcement measures if it hopes to gain membership to the World Trade Organization in 2008, according to a new report by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR).

“The United States will continue to monitor to ensure that Russia moves to implement a variety of legal and law enforcement improvements to which it committed as part of a bilateral agreement with the United States on Russia’s accession to the WTO,” the USTR said in a statement announcing the release of its annual Special 301 Report to Congress.

Implementation of its commitments “remains essential to completing the final multilateral negotiations on the overall accession package,” the report said.

Russia was one of nine countries designated as “priority” in the report, which outlines the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights protection in countries throughout the world.

While trade law allows the US to retaliate against countries discriminating against US-sourced products and services, the White House has favored continued negotiations, and for priority countries, this means intense bilateral talks throughout the year until changes are made in intellectual property rights regulation and enforcement.

The report also lists 36 countries on a lower-level “watch list” meriting continued US attention over the next year. 
Among those on the list are Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

However, improvements in Ukraine got it bumped from last year’s “priority” list to the “watch” list, and Lithuanian gains in intellectual property rights enforcement got that country removed from all lists in 2008.

The report states that US copyright industries lost an estimated $1.4 billion in 2007 as the result of piracy in Russia.  The USTR said that the production of optical discs far exceeded domestic demand and that some of the pirated discs were being produced for export.

It further said that weak enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting “remains a serious problem.”

The USTR said that while some raids by Russian authorities have been conducted on optical disc production facilities and retail sites, prosecutions remain sporadic, and the courts regularly fail to impose high-enough penalties to deter rights violators.

The Special 301 Report lists several other Eastern European and Central Asian countries as needing further improvements in intellectual property protections.

The report states that Belarus’ intellectual property laws do not allow police officials to initiate criminal copyright cases or customs officials to seize illegal products at the border.  In addition, the law does not provide for search procedures that are necessary to protect against end-user software piracy.

The report particularly highlights problems related to sound recordings and pre-existing works.

The USTR hailed Ukraine’s legislative initiatives and enforcement against pirate optical disc manufacturing, pointing out that “no evidence of pirate manufacturing has been detected in several years.”

But the USTR said that the country needs stronger border enforcement to address transshipment of illegally produced optical media, and its courts have to impose sentences that act as effective deterrents to the pirates. It said government ministries must move to ensure that only legal software is used.

The USTR cited some legislative progress in Tajikistan to protect intellectual property rights, but said that its copyright law still does not provide protection for sound recordings or pre-existing works.

The report said the country has a weak enforcement regime, particularly among customs officials in their ability to stop the release of suspected materials at the border, and the country lacks adequate criminal penalties for rights violations.

Turkmenistan, according to the report, lacks both copyright law and criminal procedures or penalties for intellectual property rights infringement, as required by a bilateral trade agreement with the US.

To date, it is not party to international agreements to protect artistic and literary works (Berne Convention), phonograms (Geneva Convention), and Internet protection treaties negotiated under the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Although Uzbekistan has passed copyright protections and begun to close down shops selling pirated materials, no protections exist for sound recordings, and enforcement against producers of illegal materials or at the border is weak.

These issues “will be factors in continued negotiations with Uzbekistan on its bid to become a WTO member and in review of Uzbekistan’s status for tariff-free treatment for certain goods under the US Generalized System of Preferences,” the report said.

“The Special 301 Report spotlights one of the central challenges facing the global economy,” said US Trade Representative Susan Schwab. “Pirates and counterfeiters don’t just steal ideas. They steal jobs, and too often they threaten our health and safety.”

Go back, or read the latest Front Page stories:

China Projected to Take Manufacturing Crown

BOSTON, Mass. – 08/18/08 – Rapid growth in certain manufacturing segments will help China overtake the US as the world's leading manufacturer within a decade, according to Global Insight, the Massachusetts-based economics consultancy; but, rather than being a cause for concern, the forecasted explosive growth of China’s manufacturing sector “is not a sign of weakening future prospects for the US” and ''is more likely to open up greater opportunities for the US, as well as other producers,'' the company said.