and agrochemical products. The United States encourages India to enact legislation in the near term to strengthen its copyright laws and implement the provisions of the WIPO Internet Treaties. The United States also encourages India to improve its IPR enforcement system by enacting effective optical disc legislation to combat optical disc piracy. Piracy and counterfeiting, including of pharmaceuticals, remain a serious problem in India. India's criminal IPR enforcement regime remains weak. Police action against those engaged in manufacturing, distributing, or selling pirated and counterfeit goods, and expeditious judicial dispositions for IPR infringement and imposition of deterrent-level sentences, is needed. As counterfeit medicines are a serious problem in India, the United States is encouraged by the recent passage of the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act 2008 that will increase penalties for spurious and adulterated pharmaceuticals. The United States urges India to strengthen its IPR regime and stands ready to work with India on these issues during the coming year.
INDONESIA
Indonesia will be added to the Priority Watch List in 2009. There has been little progress on IPR protection and enforcement since 2006, when Indonesia's status in the Special 301 report improved following promising steps taken by the Government. That trend has not continued, and the Government appears to be moving backward from some previous advances. The Optical Disc Regulations are not being implemented effectively; problems include issuance of licenses for suspect production lines and failure to permanently revoke licenses and seize equipment and materials after convictions. One of the key weaknesses in the Indonesian IPR enforcement regime has been in the prosecution of IPR crimes: cases move slowly, few cases result in successful convictions, and convictions often result in small fines that do not deter repeat infringers. Overall, raids appear to have decreased. Implementing regulations for the Customs Law Amendment that passed in 2006 have not yet been completed. Reports indicate that the National IP Task Force, created in 2006 to coordinate IPR protection and enforcement efforts, is ineffective. On the pharmaceutical front, counterfeit medicines continue to be a major problem. In addition, Indonesia should provide effective protection against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical products. Indonesia introduced a law last year on the operation of foreign pharmaceutical companies that raise significant market access concerns. Despite the overall decline in IPR enforcement, some parts of the Government remain interested in improving the IPR regime, as reflected by the recent resolution of a longstanding trademark dispute. The United States urges Indonesia to recapture the momentum created in 2006 and to rebuild on that promising start.
ISRAEL
Israel will remain on the Priority Watch List in 2009. The United States is encouraged by the high level of constructive engagement between the United States and Israel over the past year, which has included positive dialogue among the United States, Israel, and the affected industries in both countries. Consequently, the United States will continue to conduct the OCR that began last year as a positive step to encourage progress in Israel on IPR issues. The United States remains committed to reaching a resolution to the IPR issues that have been under discussion with Israel for many years. Recent progress on certain IPR issues in Israel over the past few years has included: the passage of copyright legislation and issuance of a decree in 2007 that
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