U.S. Says Ukraine Still Tops Global Piracy List

Thu May 1, 2003 05:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - The United States on Thursday issued its annual list of countries with the worst record of protecting copyright material and other intellectual property, again identifying Ukraine as the worst culprit.

The U.S. Trade Representative's Office said $75 million in U.S. sanctions on Ukraine would remain in effect because of that country's failure to adopt and enforce adequate protections against the illegal copying of optical media products such as music CDs, movie DVDs and computer software.

The sanctions were first imposed in January 2002.

Protection of intellectual property rights is an increasingly important component of U.S. trade policy.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, a consortium of publishing, film, software and recording industry groups, estimates that global piracy costs U.S. copyright industries more than $22 billion annually.

The 50 countries listed in the USTR annual report accounted for $9.8 billion of those annual losses, the group said.

"Open markets and rules that guarantee the protection of intellectual property are critical to the continued health of the creative sectors of our economy," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said in a statement.

The report noted that ongoing implementation of an World Trade Organization agreement on intellectual property rights had helped to improved protection worldwide.

It gave the following examples:

-- Egypt has passed a comprehensive intellectual property rights law that represents an improvement in all major facets of Egypt's intellectual property regime.

-- Colombia and Hungary are now protecting confidential medical test data in line with their WTO obligations.

-- Many countries, such as Israel, are making the necessary investments in education, police and judicial resources to improve enforcement to protect U.S. right holders.

But ineffective enforcement of intellectual property rights, commercial piracy and counterfeiting of consumer products remained a global threat, the USTR said.

Counterfeit products, from shampoo to auto brakes, harmed not only trademark owners but could also cause serious health and safety problems for consumers, the report said.

Rampant piracy and lack of enforcement were problems in Russia, Taiwan, Poland, Brazil and elsewhere, the USTR said.

Ukraine was the only country put on the Priority Foreign Country list, the most serious designation.

China and Paraguay remain subject to special monitoring under U.S. trade laws.

Both countries have negotiated bilateral agreements with the United States to address long-standing piracy concerns, and failure to comply with those commitments could lead to U.S. sanctions.

Placed on the Priority Watch List, the next highest category of concern, were Argentina, the Bahamas, Brazil, the 15-nation European Union, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, and Taiwan.

Among countries placed on the Watch List were Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Israel, South Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.