bilateral United States-Turkmenistan Trade Agreement and to undertake enforcement activities that will help to strengthen its IPR regime.
UZBEKISTAN
Uzbekistan will remain on the Watch List in 2007. The United States is concerned about Uzbekistan's lack of significant progress on IPR issues. For example, although Uzbekistan moved forward with copyright reform in 2006, Uzbekistan should pass several other pending IPR-related amendments to strengthen IPR protection and enforcement. While Uzbekistan has joined the Berne Convention, the United States notes with concern Uzbekistan's continuing reservation to Article 18, which requires that signatory countries provide copyright protection to pre-existing works. Furthermore, the United States has concerns with Uzbekistan's compliance with its intellectual property commitments under the United States-Uzbekistan Trade Agreement, particularly with respect to copyright protection and enforcement. Uzbekistan does not provide protection for sound recordings or pre-existing works, and is not a member of the Geneva Phonograms Convention or the WIPO Internet Treaties. In addition, IPR enforcement in Uzbekistan remains weak due to a lack of ex officio authority that would allow customs officials to seize infringing goods at the border, a lack of civil ex parte search procedures, and inadequate criminal penalties for IPR violations. The United States urges Uzbekistan to address these deficiencies in its IPR legal regime and to take immediate and effective measures to improve IPR enforcement. The United States will continue to work together with Uzbekistan on these outstanding IPR issues through discussions related to Uzbekistan's bid for WTO accession and in the on-going review of Uzbekistan's status as a beneficiary country under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program.
VIETNAM
Vietnam will remain on the Watch List in 2007. Vietnam made significant improvements to its IPR legal and enforcement regimes in 2006, culminating in Vietnam's accession to the WTO in January 2007. In 2006, Vietnam also took steps to ensure that government agencies use only legitimate software and put in place implementing regulations to provide protection against unfair commercial use for data generated to obtain marketing approval. Despite these improvements, however, the U.S. copyright and trademark industries report that IPR infringement rates remain high in Vietnam. The United States encourages further progress on IPR enforcement initiatives and continued implementation of Vietnam's new IPR laws, through which Vietnam has said it will provide high standards of IPR protection. Satellite signal piracy also remains an area of concern. The United States looks to Vietnam to continue to build upon its public commitment to strong IPR protection by successful implementation of all its IPR laws, including measures that result in the imposition of deterrent penalties for criminal IPR infringement and the seizure and destruction of infringing goods and the equipment and materials used to make them. The United States and Vietnam will work together to ensure that Vietnam continues to strengthen its IPR regime.
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