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TRIPS Article 39.3. However, we note with satisfaction that a Dutch Court recently reversed an earlier Government decision which was inconsistent with these obligations.
On January 7, Nicaragua signed a bilateral IPR Agreement with the United States — the first such agreement in Central America and the fourth in the hemisphere. The agreement calls for full implementation by mid-1999. Currently, piracy of video recordings, unauthorized video and sound recordings, and U.S. satellite signals by local cable television operators remain widespread. The copyright law does not explicitly protect computer software. The patent law fails to meet international standards for term of protection and for patentable subject matter, and the trademark law is inadequate, particularly for well-known marks. We look to Nicaragua to update its legal structure, to reduce piracy rates affecting all forms of intellectual property, and to bring its IP regime into compliance with the obligations of the IPR agreement quickly.
Recent legislation has strengthened Panama's IPR regime, but inadequate enforcement continues to be a major problem. U.S. companies have complained about the failure of the Government of Panama to seize illegal products in the Colon Free Zone (CFZ). The Government of Panama has only recently begun to organize its IPR enforcement efforts in the CFZ by establishing an intellectual property enforcement unit in the CFZ. As the unit becomes operational, we expect reductions in piracy and counterfeiting in the zone. A new Industrial Property Law should provide better protection for trade secrets. Over the past several months, Panamanian authorities have shown more commitment to enforcing the laws, especially outside the CFZ. We look to them to devote sufficient resources to IP protection and to continue to fulfill their action plan devised last year.
Romania has made some notable progress in improving legal protection for intellectual property rights in the last year. Romania recently enacted a pipeline protection law and the Romanian Parliament has reportedly passed legislation providing for accession to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Geneva Phonograms Convention, which now must be approved by the President. Romania, however, needs to increase the effectiveness of prosecutorial enforcement to ensure that government raids and seizures result in actual prosecutions. It also needs to increase border controls to keep infringing products out of Romania. During the next year, we look to Romania to increase the level of enforcement of its IP laws, allocate adequate resources to the agencies responsible for enforcement measures, increase border enforcement measures, ensure efficient and fair implementation of the pipeline protection legislation, and finalize its accessions to the Berne and Geneva Conventions.
Spain has growing piracy of business software. Despite having low levels of copyright piracy generally, Spain has some of the highest levels of business software piracy in the European Union. The United States is concerned that judicial proceedings are frequently delayed and that penalties assessed against infringers are inadequate to serve as a deterrent against piracy.
In Tunisia, the lack of patent protection for pharmaceutical products means that dozens of unauthorized copies of top-selling medicines are in the market. Once a medicine is manufactured
