FACT SHEET
"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 since April 1999 in resolving many long-standing problems.
The decisions announced by Ambassador Barshefsky include the following specific actions:
- initiating WTO dispute settlement procedures against Argentina and Brazil, and taking the next step in our dispute with Denmark and request the establishment of a WTO panel unless imminent progress is made.
- 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: Argentina, Dominican Republic, EU, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, India, Israel, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Peru, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Additionally, there will be an "out-of-cycle" review (OCR) scheduled for Italy and Korea.
- placing 39 trading partners on the Watch List. These countries include ones being placed on the Watch List for the first time, such as Kazakhstan, Latvia and Lithuania. There will be an OCR scheduled for Macau.
- scheduling OCRs of El Salvador and the West Bank and Gaza.
Other WTO dispute settlement proceedings and out-of-cycle reviews will be initiated if necessary.
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