APEC ministers endorse guidelines to fight fake goods
APEC ministers endorse guidelines to fight fake goods
Deutsche-Agence Presse, Bangkok
Ministers from Pacific Rim economies endorsed Saturday a
document detailing a set of guidelines to fight the rampant
production of counterfeit or pirated goods in the region,
according to a final draft of the document, the Kyodo news agency
reported Saturday.
The document, approved by the trade and foreign ministers from
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum members, said
vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) will
rev up economic development.
The paper, titled "the Comprehensive Strategy on IPR in APEC,"
details how APEC economies will coordinate their efforts to curb
violations of IPR in the region, Kyodo reported.
The document, a copy of which was obtained by Kyodo News, will
be issued later Saturday at the end of the two-day APEC
ministerial meeting in Bangkok.
Some APEC economies are known havens for fake goods due to
unhampered unlicensed production and distribution of imitation
trademark goods and pirated copyright goods.
Investors find the protection of IPR is still insufficient in
the APEC region owing to weak enforcement in some economies.
"To improve IPR protection, and especially enforcement, within
the APEC region, it is important that individual economies
undertake initiatives and that a variety of cooperative efforts
are pursued strategically within the APEC framework," the
document says, according to Kyodo.
The paper urges APEC economies to promote information exchange
to improve IPR enforcement in the region, saying this will
promote "knowledge-based economies."
"It is important for the economies to exchange information on
what measures each economy is taking to secure rights. The
information should include some of the best practices adopted by
the economy," it says.
The paper also calls for the training of IPR enforcement
personnel, including police, customs and courts, through on-the-
job training workshops and the dispatch of experts.
The paper also urges the member economies to provide "rights
holders" information regarding IPR-related laws, regulations and
administrative procedures. "This also supports the broader APEC
objective on improving transparency," it says.
"It is also important to provide the general public in each
economy with information on the harm and problems caused by
infringing goods so that they will respect IPR and avoid
purchasing counterfeit or pirated goods," the paper adds.
The APEC ministers have instructed the senior officials "to
develop concrete plans to implement the strategy." They also
emphasize the importance of implementation of well-targeted
projects which take into account the particular needs of
developing APEC economies.
"In this area, increased support for capacity building
programs as well as infrastructure development in order to
strengthen the fight against piracy is required," the final draft
says, according to Kyodo.
The growth of the "digital economy" creates new challenges in
the enforcement of IPR. In fact, APEC leaders' urged the APEC
economies in their statement last year to implement APEC policies
on trade and the digital economy, in Los Cabos, Mexico, Kyodo
said.
In 1995, the APEC leaders stressed the importance of IPR and
even offered important guidelines for action within the APEC
region in the Osaka Action Agenda.
"APEC's work in this area will enhance economies' abilities to
engage in broader trade and investment liberalization, which will
help APEC meet the Bogor Goals," the draft says, Kyodo reported.
The Bogor Goals call for developed nations in APEC to lower
tariff barriers to 0 percent to 5 percent by 2010 and for
developing nations to do so by 2020, Kyodo said.
APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea,
Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.