protection and enforcement. The United States will continue to work with Ukraine to ensure sustained progress on these IPR issues in a number of fora, including a new Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement, the IPR Enforcement Cooperation Group, and the WTO.
UZBEKISTAN
Uzbekistan will remain on the Watch List in 2008. The United States remains concerned about Uzbekistan's lack of progress on IPR issues. Although Uzbekistan passed a revised copyright law in 2006 and recently has started to close down shops that sell pirated products, numerous IPR deficiencies remain. Uzbekistan has acceded to the Berne Convention, but the United States notes its concern with Uzbekistan's continuing reservation to Article 18 of the Convention, which requires that signatory countries provide copyright protection to pre-existing works. Uzbekistan does not provide protection for sound recordings or pre-existing works, and has not acceded to the Geneva Phonograms Convention or the WIPO Internet Treaties. In addition, IPR enforcement in Uzbekistan remains weak due to a lack of ex officio authority that would allow customs officials to seize infringing goods at the border, a lack of civil ex parte search procedures, and inadequate criminal penalties for IPR violations. The United States urges Uzbekistan to address these deficiencies in its IPR legal regime and to take immediate and effective measures to improve IPR enforcement. The United States will continue to work together with Uzbekistan on these outstanding IPR issues through discussions related to Uzbekistan's bid for WTO accession and in the on-going review of Uzbekistan's status as a beneficiary country under the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program.
VIETNAM
Vietnam will remain on the Watch List in 2008. Vietnam made progress in 2007 by continuing to build its legal framework for IP protection, strengthening enforcement capacity, and improving interagency coordination. Vietnamese agencies have taken steps to increase enforcement efforts including initiatives to improve IP coordination between enforcement ministries, signing an agreement for government procurement of legal software, taking actions against cable piracy, and raising public awareness of IPR. Nevertheless, significant weaknesses remain, particularly with respect to its criminal regime, administrative regime, and its border enforcement regime. In addition, there is a lack of enforcement against Internet piracy and optical media containing unauthorized content. Vietnam has indicated it is taking steps to put in place more deterrent fines and penalties for copyright infringement and is in the early stages of drafting legislation to control optical media. However, concern is rising among right holders that Vietnam's IP enforcement system has not yet developed sufficiently to control the rapid growth of piracy and counterfeiting despite the substantial legislative work completed over the past several years. The United States has strongly urged Vietnam to address weaknesses in its criminal law relating to trademark infringement and copyright piracy. The United States will continue to work closely with Vietnamese authorities to strengthen capacity on IPR and to support Vietnam's efforts to implement fully its WTO TRIPS commitments.
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