In 2006, the United States and several key trading partners launched the idea of a new plurilateral treaty to help fight counterfeiting and piracy, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The aim of the initiative is to bring together countries that are interested in fighting counterfeiting and piracy to forge an agreement that enhances international cooperation and contains effective international standards for enforcing IP rights.

ACTA plans to build on existing international rules in the area of intellectual property. In, particular, it focuses on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), and it is intended to address a number of enforcement issues where participants have identified the need for an international legal framework or areas where an existing framework needs to be strengthened. 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:

• Comply with existing U.S. laws,
• Build upon existing international rules, in particular on the TRIPS, to produce a measurable improvement in the prevailing legal framework for the protection and enforcement of IP rights,
• Complement specific provisions of recent free trade agreements, especially those with Korea and Oman,
• Incorporate provisions acknowledging that IP theft takes place in both physical and online environments,
• Include an effective and credible mechanism to monitor and provide incentives to encourage parties’ compliance with obligations.

The GIPC believes that all stakeholders should be able to submit their views regarding this agreement to the administration, and the GIPC supports the steps that the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has taken to make the ACTA negotiation process transparent. USTR has encouraged participation from interested citizens, businesses, and organizations, including critics of ACTA, through town hall meetings and other public forums. The GIPC will continue to work closely with the administration and negotiators to advance a comprehensive global ACTA.