U.S. to Get Tough on Counterfeiting and Piracy
The United States hopes to pass a trade agreement with major trading partners to combat counterfeiting and piracy of branded goods and other items.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced the plan Oct. 23 at a Capitol Hill press conference before members of Congress and several ambassadors from countries that will be part of the new initiative.
“The United States looks forward to partnering with many of our key trading partners to combat this global problem,” Schwab told the group. “Today launches our joint efforts to confront counterfeiters and pirates across the global marketplace.”
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) would complement the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) under the World Trade Organization and other intellectual-property right agreements.
Trading partners discussing the agreement include Canada, the European Union and its 27 countries, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
Schwab said the United States and its trading partners would like to complete the new agreement as soon as possible. It would focus on three major areas: cooperation among countries, best practices for fighting copyright piracy and developing a strong legal framework to prosecute violations of intellectual-property rights.
The trade agreement was lauded by the American Apparel & Footwear Association, an Arlington, Va.–based trade group of manufacturers and their suppliers, for consolidating the enforcement activities of international intellectual-property rights.
“The prevalence of knockoffs is a serious threat to the apparel and footwear industry’s companies, workers and consumers,” said Kevin Burke, the AAFA’s president and chief executive. “Footwear and apparel products represented 36 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of all seized counterfeit goods by the U.S. Customs Service in the first half of 2007.”—Deborah Belgum
