EU and 11 industrial countries agree in principle to negotiate international anti-counterfeiting deal
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Brussels, 17/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - During an informal meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on 4 December, representatives of the European Union (represented by the European Commission), Australia, Canada, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Morocco, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and Uruguay agreed that it would be a good idea for them to negotiate an international anti-counterfeiting agreement amongst themselves (see EUROPE 9530). Most of these countries, however, do not yet have negotiating mandates in this connection. In an EU memorandum (of which EUROPE has obtained a copy), Canada, the United States and Japan are reported to have high commitment and ambition and the desire to reach agreement as soon as possible. Japan is reported to even be thinking of concluding the talks before the upcoming G8 summit in Tokyo.
The European Commission, which believes such a tight timetable is unrealistic, informed its partners that it had started the process of requesting a negotiating mandate from the Council and that the member states backed the initiative. The delegations present at the informal meeting in Geneva agreed not to actually launch the talks until they had all obtained a negotiating mandate. The memorandum adds that some international organisations (like the CODE) had expressed a desire to participate in the negotiating process and other bodies would have to be brought on board (the World Trade Organisation, World Intellectual Property Organisation and the World Customs Organisation). The meeting at the end of January will take place in Mexico City or Geneva. (E.H.)
Filed by Catherine Tsalikis under Transnational Crime