for unauthorized patent-infringing copies of pharmaceutical products. The United States will monitor the IPR situation in Lebanon closely, particularly under the GSP petition for inadequate copyright protection.
TURKEY
Turkey will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2006. Turkey made some progress on copyright enforcement during 2005, including an increased number of raids against copyright pirates and seizures of pirated goods, as well as increased impositions of deterrent penalties by the courts. The United States encourages Turkey to build upon this progress and to address the following IPR concerns: continuing enforcement against book, retail, and optical disc piracy; increasing judicial efficiency and reducing backlogs of court cases; addressing the growing problem of Internet piracy; increasing customs' ex officio inspections and seizures of pirated and counterfeit goods; and ensuring the seizure and destruction at pirate optical disc plants of pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them. The United States also encourages Turkey to further strengthen data protection against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test and other data submitted by pharmaceutical companies seeking marketing approval for their products, particularly with respect to the start date of the period of protection and the inappropriate linkage of the term of data protection to the length of the patent term. The United States encourages Turkey to implement a system of coordination between its health and patent authorities to prevent the issuance of marketing approvals for unauthorized patent-infringing copies of pharmaceutical products. The United States hopes to see Turkey's continued progress on these issues during the coming year, and will continue to monitor Turkey's progress in strengthening its IPR regime.
UKRAINE
Ukraine will remain on the Priority Watch List. At the conclusion of an Out-of-Cycle Review in January 2006, the United States lowered Ukraine from the Priority Foreign Country list to the Priority Watch List and reinstated Ukraine's benefits under the GSP program based on Ukraine's implementation of its new OD amendments and improved enforcement efforts. The Government of Ukraine also agreed to establish a bi-monthly Enforcement Cooperation Group with the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and U.S. industry representatives.
In March 2001, the United States designated Ukraine as a Priority Foreign Country and initiated a Section 301 investigation. The United States withdrew Ukraine's GSP benefits in August 2001 and imposed sanctions on Ukrainian imports worth $75 million in January 2002. In August 2005, in response to Ukraine's passage of important amendments to its Laser-readable Disc Law ("OD amendments") to combat optical disc pirate production, the United States terminated the $75 million trade sanctions.
The United States will continue to monitor Ukraine's progress on IPR enforcement through the Enforcement Cooperation Group and the Section 306 monitoring process. Although Ukraine is no longer a major producer of pirated optical discs, it remains a transshipment point and storage location for illegal optical media produced in Russia and elsewhere. The United States encourages Ukraine to further improve border enforcement efforts and to impose deterrent criminal penalties for unauthorized production and export of pirated products. In addition, as part of its bilateral negotiations with the United States for membership in the WTO, Ukraine has
