We commend the Lebanese Government for some recent steps that it has taken to begin to address longstanding IPR problems, including a large-scale raid on pirated optical disc warehouses that resulted in the imposition of jail sentences for the warehouse owners, other enforcement raids against pirate vendors, and efforts by Lebanese Customs to carry out ex officio inspections and seizures along the borders. However, due to continuing problems with rampant cable piracy, retail piracy of pre-recorded optical discs, computer software piracy, and pharmaceutical counterfeiting, Lebanon will be kept on the Priority Watch List for 2005. The Lebanese Government issued new requirements for registering pharmaceutical products, but the U.S. pharmaceutical industry reports continuing problems with the Lebanese Ministry of Health approving marketing registrations of unauthorized copies of pharmaceuticals patented in Lebanon. We encourage Lebanon to strengthen its data protection provisions. Counterfeiting of trademarked goods (including pharmaceutical products) continues with little apparent effort by the Government of Lebanon to deter this activity. Lebanon continues to face problems in providing adequate and effective intellectual property protection, and the United States urges Lebanon to address these issues in the near future. Problems persist with the widespread availability of pirated optical discs and rampant cable piracy. According to the U.S. copyright industry, well over 80 percent of Lebanon's cable subscribers view pirated content, one of the highest rates in the world. We encourage Lebanon to improve its judicial system and to commit its resources to improving IPR enforcement. Lebanon has neither acceded to nor fully implemented the latest text of the Berne Convention or the WIPO Internet Treaties. We urge the Lebanese Government to continue its efforts to address these problems and to ratify and implement the WIPO Internet Treaties soon. The United States will monitor these efforts closely with the hope an improved IPR regime will benefit Lebanon's economy and our bilateral trade relationship. We continue to review Lebanon under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for inadequate copyright protection.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan made some progress in IPR issues during the past year, including Pakistani Customs' seizures of numerous pirated discs destined for export. However, because the overall piracy and counterfeiting problems in Pakistan have not improved significantly over the past year, we are maintaining Pakistan on the Priority Watch List in 2005. In addition, we will continue a review of Pakistan under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for inadequate copyright protection. According to the U.S. copyright industry, Pakistan is one of the world's leading producers/exporters of pirated optical media of copyrighted sound recordings, motion pictures, business software, and published materials. The vast majority of pirated goods exported from Pakistan consisted of apparel, pharmaceuticals with counterfeit trademarks, or optical media products. We recognize that Pakistan took some initial steps to address these problems, and we are encouraged by reports in April 2005 that Pakistan has proposed legislation to form the long-awaited Pakistan Intellectual Property Organization (PIPRO), which is designed to centralize enforcement. Despite these positive signals, the U.S. copyright industry is disappointed that Pakistan has not introduced effective optical media plant control measures, including the ability to track the movement of optical media production equipment and raw materials. Moreover, Pakistan has not compelled the use of source identification codes to address production of pirated CDs and CD-ROMs. Pakistani authorities neither conducted routine plant raids and seizures on a regular basis, nor have they imposed deterrent criminal penalties for organized manufacturing and distribution of pirated and counterfeit products. An example of Pakistan's ineffective IPR
