USTR Announces Results of its 2004 "Special 301" Annual Report

The USTR states that this report focuses on the adequacy and effectiveness of IPR protection in approximately 51 countries and one economy, and identifies those foreign countries that deny adequate and effective protection of IPR or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons that rely upon intellectual property protection.

Need for Improved Enforcement Against Counterfeiting, Piracy, Etc.

In this year's review, the USTR states that it devotes special attention to the need for significantly improved enforcement against counterfeiting and piracy, with particular emphasis on the ongoing campaign to reduce production of unauthorized copies of "optical media" products such as CDs, VCDs, DVDs, and CD-ROMs.

In addition, the USTR continues to focus on other issues it deems critically important, including internet piracy, proper implementation of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement by developed and developing country World Trade Organization (WTO) members, and full implementation of TRIPS standards by new WTO members at the time of their accession. USTR also continues to encourage countries to ensure that government ministries use only authorized software.

Highlights of the 2004 Special 301 Annual Report

In its report, the USTR identified several trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. artists and industries that rely upon such protection, these designations include:

Ukraine remains a priority foreign country. The USTR again notes with disappointment Ukraine's persistent failure to take effective action against significant levels of optical media piracy and to implement IPR laws that provide adequate and effective protection. Therefore, the USTR states that Ukraine will continue to be designated a Priority Foreign Country and the $75 million worth of sanctions imposed on Ukrainian products on January 23, 2002 will remain in place. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/26/01 and 08/10/01 news, (Ref:01122615) and 01081015, for previous summaries concerning Ukraine.)

China and Paraguay remain "Section 306" Monitoring Countries. The USTR states that it will continue to designate China and Paraguay for "Section 306" monitoring to ensure that both countries comply with the commitments made to the U.S. under bilateral intellectual property agreements.

14 countries and 1 economy on priority watch list. The USTR has placed the following 15 trading partners on its "Priority Watch List": Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Egypt, European Union, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, and Turkey.

34 watch list countries. The USTR states that the following countries are on its "Watch List": Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Out-of-cycle reviews. With respect to individual trade partners, the USTR notes that it will conduct an out-of-cycle review for Israel in the summer, as well as out-of-cycle reviews for Malaysia, Poland, and Taiwan in the fall. The USTR has also announced that it will conduct an out-of-cycle review for China in early 2005.

USTR press release (Press Release 2004-36, dated 05/03/04) available at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2004/05/04-36.pdf

USTR 2004 "Special 301" Report available athttp://www.ustr.gov/reports/2004-301/special301.htm