Conclude Ambitious and Comprehensive ACTA
In 2006, the United States and several key trading partners launched negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a new plurilateral treaty to help fight counterfeiting and piracy through enhanced international cooperation and more effective international standards for enforcing intellectual property (IP) rights. If concluded, ACTA has the potential to enhance international cooperation in fighting IP theft and set a gold standard for IP enforcement.
ACTA will build upon existing international rules, in particular the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), to address a number of enforcement areas where countries have identified the need to strengthen the current international legal framework. The GIPC supports the administration’s efforts to conclude an ambitious and comprehensive ACTA that results in more effective enforcement of IP rights. Specifically, GIPC believes that ACTA should do the following:
- Builds upon existing international rules and norms, in particular on the TRIPS, to produce measurable improvements in the prevailing legal and enforcement frameworks for the protection of IP rights;
- Complements IP provisions of recent FTAs, especially those with Korea and Oman;
- Includes robust provisions to confront IP theft in both physical and online environments; and
- Includes an effective and credible mechanism to monitor and provide incentives to encourage parties’ compliance with obligations.
The GIPC has been a consistent advocate of transparency in the ACTA negotiations, yet given the importance of this agreement to our economy and to consumers, it is important that we not allow ACTA to be derailed by a minority opposed to protecting the rights of artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs. There are constraints in international trade negotiations and a certain level of confidentiality is needed. However, we urge the administration to continue to engage the public in the process wherever possible and to ensure the Congress—as representatives of the American people—are fully briefed on the scope of the ACTA negotiations and why concluding this agreement expeditiously is in the country’s best interests.
