online. Consistent with this deteriorating IPR picture, the World Economic Forum's 2014-2015 Competitiveness Report ranked Venezuela last for intellectual property protection of all 144 countries evaluated.
WATCH LIST
East Asia and Pacific
Vietnam
Vietnam remains on the Watch List in 2015. Online piracy and sales of counterfeit goods over the Internet are common, and, as more Vietnamese obtain broadband and purchase smartphones, the United States expects that conditions will continue to worsen unless the Government of Vietnam takes action. Counterfeit goods—including high-quality knockoffs—remain widely available in physical markets, and while still limited, manufacturing of counterfeit goods is emerging as an issue. In addition, book piracy, software piracy, and cable and satellite signal theft persist. Enforcement continues to be a challenge for Vietnam. Capacity constraints remain due, in part, to a lack of resources and IPR expertise. Vietnam continues to rely heavily on administrative enforcement actions, which have failed to deter counterfeiting and piracy. While there are laws in place for IPR crimes, Vietnam has yet to draft the implementing guidelines to the 2009 amendments to the 1999 Criminal Code, which would allow law enforcement agencies and courts to levy deterrent criminal penalties against IPR violators. Vietnam's system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorized disclosure of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products also needs clarifications. The Government of Vietnam is in the process of drafting or revising circulars in a number of IPR-related areas, including on guidelines for interagency cooperation on enforcement issues, as well as criminal code reform, and various agencies continue to engage in public awareness campaigns. Meanwhile, various other impediments to doing business have complicated efforts by foreign companies to sell legitimate products in the Vietnam's market. The United States looks forward to continuing to work with Vietnam to address these and other issues, including in the TPP negotiations.
South and Central Asia
Tajikistan
Tajikistan remains on the Watch List in 2015, with an OCR to evaluate the possibility of removing Tajikistan from the Special 301 Watch List. During its WTO accession process, the Government of Tajikistan committed to providing ex officio authority to its enforcement agencies. However, the existing legislation does not establish conditions for the customs authorities to act ex officio, or for public officials to be held liable when acting in bad faith. The United States encourages Tajikistan to address this deficiency and amend its laws to comport
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