review, the ongoing GSP review that was initiated by USTR in 2001, and WTO accession discussions.
TURKEY
Long-standing concerns over Turkey's lack of protection for confidential test data against unfair commercial use were noted in the 2004 Special 301 Report. In 2005, Turkey passed data protection legislation, but we are disappointed that it provides little effective protection for pharmaceutical products already on the market and limits protection for future pharmaceutical products. Due to these concerns over data protection, and the lack of data protection for agricultural chemicals, as well as other concerns over patent protection, copyright piracy, trademark counterfeiting, and IPR enforcement problems, Turkey remains on the Priority Watch List in 2005. We encourage Turkey to address the shortcomings in its data protection regime, as well as to implement a system of coordination between its regulatory health and patent regimes to prevent unauthorized registrations of patent-infringing products. With regard to copyright piracy, large-scale commercial photocopying of books and highly organized print piracy continue to be the chief problems in Turkey. During 2004, Turkey improved its copyright legislative regime and the U.S. copyright industry reported an almost immediate effect of the new law on retail street piracy. As a result of the new copyright legislation, major campaigns have been carried out against street piracy and courts have been willing to impose higher penalties. In the area of counterfeiting, the U.S. trademark industry notes its serious concern over shortcomings in Turkey's IPR enforcement against counterfeiting of apparel and designer brands and minimal deterrence of this activity by the Turkish court system. The United States hopes to see Turkey's continued progress on copyright, trademark and patent enforcement during the coming year, and will continue to monitor Turkey's progress in strengthening its IPR regime.
VENEZUELA
Venezuela is being elevated to the Priority Watch List in 2005 due to the continuing deterioration of its already weak IPR regime and its declining commitment to IPR protection. The U.S. pharmaceutical industry continues to face significant losses in Venezuela, and reports that Venezuela is not providing protection to confidential test data against unfair commercial use for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products, despite its obligation to do so under the TRIPS Agreement. The U.S. pharmaceutical industry also notes that Venezuela has not issued any pharmaceutical patents since 2002, but instead it has continued to grant marketing approval for unauthorized domestic copies of pharmaceutical products patented in Venezuela. We are also concerned that the Venezuelan Intellectual Property Agency has opened an administrative process to revoke previously-granted patents. In the area of copyright, levels of piracy and contraband have grown increasingly problematic while government efforts toward deterrence and prosecution of these illegal activities remain minimal. This has resulted in the near extinction of the legitimate music market, which, coupled with film and software piracy, has led to $92 million in estimated losses to the U.S. copyright industry in 2004. The U.S. copyright industry reports that proposed copyright legislation would severely undercut the current Venezuelan copyright law, as well as standards of protection under the Berne Convention, the TRIPS Agreement, and bilateral agreements. We urge the Venezuelan Government to take immediate action to improve IPR protection, particularly in the areas of protecting data against unfair commercial use for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products, copyright piracy and inadequate legislative proposals, trademark counterfeiting, and IPR enforcement.
