computer software, and books, as well as to decrease street vendor sales of pirated and counterfeit goods and infringing activities on university campuses. The United States encourages Korea to address its lack of an effective coordination system between its health and patent authorities to prevent the issuance of marketing approvals for unauthorized patent-infringing copies of pharmaceutical products. The United States will work with Korea to make progress on these and other IPR issues through the upcoming Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
ROMANIA
Romania will remain on the Watch List in 2006. The United States will continue to monitor further progress on IPR enforcement, including high piracy rates in the sectors of business software, music, and entertainment software, due to weak enforcement and deficiencies in the judicial system. Some IPR improvements were made by Romania this year, including the designation of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court as the national coordinator for IPR enforcement, the provision of ex officio authority to law enforcement authorities, the requirement of Source Identification Codes for optical disc manufacturing, and increased dedication of resources for IPR enforcement. Despite these positive steps, however, copyright piracy continues to thrive, including on the Internet. In addition, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary continue to place a low priority on IPR enforcement. For example, prosecutors are reluctant to prosecute criminal IPR cases, courts are reluctant to convict and issue deterrent sentences against IPR infringers, and the Romanian judiciary has dismissed a large number of cases on the grounds that there is a "lack of social harm." The United States urges Romania to improve its IPR enforcement activities in order to combat piracy effectively.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia will remain on the Watch List in 2006, and the United States will conduct an Out-of-Cycle review to monitor Saudi Arabia's continued progress on IPR issues. The United States recognizes that Saudi Arabia has improved its IPR regime as part of its becoming a WTO member in 2005. Progress has been notable in several areas, including an increased number of raids and seizures of pirated and counterfeit goods, positive legislative amendments to strengthen IPR protection, and increased cooperation with private industry. The United States commends Saudi Arabia for these improvements and encourages further progress on a number of IPR issues. To build on the positive cooperation established between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. copyright industry, the United States looks to Saudi Arabia to complete recent IPR actions that it has initiated. For example, the United States looks to Saudi Arabia to increase transparency of its IPR enforcement regime, continue sustained raids and inspections to combat piracy and counterfeiting, ensure transparency in the judicial system and imposition of deterrent sentences (including jail terms for serious offenses) against criminal IPR infringers, and improve border enforcement measures, among other IPR issues. The United States will work together with Saudi Arabia on a specific plan of action, and the United States encourages Saudi Arabia to continue with its already strong efforts to improve its IPR regime. The United States will continue our IPR discussions with Saudi Arabia through the Trade and Investment Agreement and the Out-of-Cycle review.
