ASEAN may protect trademarks
ASEAN may protect trademarks
By Riyadi
BANGKOK (JP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is gearing up for cooperation on intellectual property rights and the possible establishment of free trade in services.
ASEAN economic ministers finalized yesterday framework agreements on the two issues, in addition to agreements on the free trade of goods under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) arrangement.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Amnuay Viravan told a press conference that ASEAN heads of state/governments will sign the agreements on Friday.
The economic ministers also agreed to draw up action plans on free trade in services within three years and plan to report the plans in the next ASEAN summit to be held in Vietnam.
Yesterday's meeting of economic ministers was chaired by Brunei Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib. Indonesia was represented by Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto and Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo.
Tunky confirmed that the economic ministers had been successful in preparing all the necessary documents, including those on services and property rights.
Signing
"We have finalized everything to be signed tomorrow. There is no problem at all. Everything proceeded very well," Tunky said.
ASEAN Secretary-General Dato' Ajit Singh told reporters that both framework agreements, drafted by the economic ministers, will be deliberated in the joint ministerial meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers and economic ministers today before they are brought before the fifth ASEAN summit on Thursday.
On the services issue, Singh said that the economic ministers had identified the areas to be liberalized, including financial services, air and maritime transportation, telecommunications, tourism and business services.
Singh said that ASEAN free trade in services will be consistent with the provisions of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. He said that it will also complement the AFTA agreement, which rules free trade in goods.
According to the ASEAN secretariat, the services sector contributes between 46 percent and 72 percent of the gross domestic products of the groups members. By 1993, the production of the services sector was bigger than the manufacturing sector in all ASEAN countries.
ASEAN currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asked about the timeframe for free trade in services, Singh said there was still a long way to go.
"Next year, we will start to talk about it into detail. Then, we will have an agreement. The idea is to talk to have an agreement," Singh said.
Singh said that there will be cooperation at the ASEAN level in the area of trade-related intellectual property rights.
One of the items in the framework agreement refers to the formation of a single standard mechanism to improve the trademark and copyright registration process among ASEAN members.
A full-fledged patent system is, however, still a few years away, and the agreement initially is the form of a pledge by ASEAN governments to study the feasibility of a patent system.
The proposed agreement envisages the setting up of regional trademark and patent offices modeled on other international systems. The aim is to have one application, one set of laws and automatic protection for rights owners within ASEAN.
No timeframe has been set for the establishment of the offices. However, some sources said it could be finalized by 2000.
A number of ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, have been criticized for being havens for violators of intellectual property rights.
ASEAN has been working on the intellectual property agreement since September last year after realizing improvements were needed to protect its businesses, boost the confidence of foreign investors and, ultimately, lure more investment to the region.
Patents and trademarks are the key issues to be discussed under the heading of intellectual property rights. The framework agreement involves cooperation on copyrights, industrial designs and commercial secrets.
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