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"SPECIAL 301" ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
ACTIONS TAKEN
United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky 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 over the course of 1999 in resolving many long-standing problems.
The decision announced by Ambassador Barshefsky includes the following specific actions:
- initiating WTO dispute settlement procedures against Argentina, Canada and the EU.
- scheduling a special out-of-cycle review of all developing countries' TRlPS implementation in December 1999.
- 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 IPR agreements.
- placing 16 trading partners on the Special 301 Priority Watch List including Israel, Ukraine, Macau, Peru, Argentina, Egypt, the European Union, Greece, India, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Kuwait.
- scheduling "out-of-cycle" reviews of Israel and Kuwait in December.
- placing 37 trading partners on the Watch List, and scheduling out-of-cycle reviews of South Africa, Colombia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Korea.
- scheduling an out-of-cycle review of Malaysia and Hong Kong in September 1999.
Other WTO dispute settlement proceedings and out-of-cycle reviews will be initiated if necessary.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY
The "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, require the USTR to identifY foreign countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or fair
