FACT SHEET
"SPECIAL 301" ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
United States Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick today announced the Administration's decision with respect to this year's review under the so-called "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended.
This decision reflects the Administration's continued commitment to aggressive enforcement of intellectual property rights. Intellectual property protection standards and enforcement have improved in part as a result of implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). In addition, actions announced today reflect progress made since April 2000 in resolving many long-standing problems.
The decisions and progress announced by Ambassador Zoellick include the following:
- the designation on March 12, 2001 of Ukraine as a Priority Foreign Country due to its persistent failure to take effective action against significant levels of optical media piracy and to implement intellectual property laws that provide adequate and effective protection.
- progress in a number of trading partners over the past year, including Italy, Turkey, Spain, Peru, Moldova, Guatemala, Ecuador, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
- the resolution of WTO dispute settlement procedures with Denmark, Greece and Ireland and progress toward resolution of the case against Argentina.
- monitoring China and Paraguay under Section 306 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. This means that USTR will be in a position to move directly to trade sanctions if there is slippage in either country's enforcement of bilateral intellectual property rights agreements.
- placing 16 trading partners on the Special 301 Priority Watch List: Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, European Union, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, and Uruguay. Additionally, there will be an "out-of-cycle" review (OCR) scheduled for Costa Rica, and Malaysia.
- placing 32 trading partners on the Watch List. There will be an OCR scheduled for Lithuania.
- scheduling OCRs of Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and, as warranted for Japan and the Bahamas.
Other WTO dispute settlement proceedings and out-of-cycle reviews will be initiated if necessary.
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