appropriate protection for pre-existing works and sound recordings. In addition, it appears that further amendments are needed to bring Belarusian copyright law into compliance with the WIPO Internet Treaties. Enforcement of intellectual property laws in Belarus remains extremely weak and piracy levels remain high. Belarus did not make significant progress during the past year regarding needed legislative reforms or enforcement efforts, although the Government of Belarus is in the process of establishing a national academy to train enforcement officials in IPR protection. In the past, optical media production facilities have migrated into Belarus from neighboring countries, namely the Armita plant in Brest that relocated from Ukraine. The U.S. copyright industry is concerned that unless Belarus takes enforcement actions against illegal optical media plants, additional illegal plants may relocate to Belarus in the future. Belarus has amended its Criminal Code to adopt deterrent penalties for IPR violations, but the Criminal Code still does not provide for ex officio authority to allow police officials to initiate criminal copyright cases or for customs officials to seize illegal products at the border. Furthermore, Belarus' Civil Code does not provide for ex parte searches necessary to protect effectively against end-user software piracy. The United States encourages Belarus to enforce its IPR laws more aggressively and to take actions to deter future illegal operations. In addition, we urge Belarus to fulfill its obligations under the U.S.-Belarus Trade Agreement and will continue to monitor its progress in strengthening its IPR regime.
BELIZE
We are maintaining Belize on the Watch List in 2005. Although IPR legislation in Belize generally is consistent with international standards, the Government of Belize continued to make only minimal IPR enforcement efforts, which has led to the widespread availability of counterfeit and pirated goods. Furthermore, there has been insufficient cooperation between rights holders and government entities and less than satisfactory responses to concerns raised by such rights holders. A continuing concern is the lack of IPR enforcement in Belize's Corozal Commercial Free Trade Zone, which has led to the proliferation of infringement, transshipment of infringing merchandise, and related criminal activities. We encourage Belize to improve IPR enforcement efforts by increasing the number of investigations of counterfeiting and piracy, prosecuting and sentencing counterfeiters and pirates after successful seizures of illegal goods, and implementing strong IPR enforcement actions in the Corozal Commercial Free Trade Zone.
BOLIVIA
Bolivia remains on the Watch List in 2005 due to lack of improvements to its IPR regime. Under its bilateral and multilateral commitments, Bolivia should have increased its level of IPR protection years ago. Bolivia's IPR system continues to be deficient with respect to inadequate copyright laws, significant copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting, and weak IPR enforcement efforts overall. The United States looks to Bolivia to strengthen its copyright law, improve its IPR enforcement mechanisms, and ratify and implement the WIPO Internet Treaties. In addition to these legal reforms, we urge Bolivia to increase its enforcement efforts. Specifically, we recommend that Bolivia provide for civil ex parte searches, prevent unwarranted delays in civil enforcement, provide adequate civil and criminal damages in copyright cases, and strengthen border measures. The U.S. copyright industry reports that Bolivia conducted no raids last year in response to music piracy, which has become so rampant that all international recording companies have closed their offices in Bolivia. Other copyright problems include commercial photocopying of books, unauthorized translations of books, video piracy, and
