Chile Elevated to Special 301 Priority Watch; IIPA Advocates Similar Elevation of Canada
United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab announced Monday that Chile is being elevated from "Watch List" to "Priority Watch List" status following a Special 301 Review. This decision resulted from an "Out-of-Cycle Review" (OCR) pursuant to the April 2006 Special 301 Report.
The OCR found that Chile has authorized the sale of patent-infringing pharmaceutical products, inappropriately approved generic versions of innovative drug products, and reduced its commitment to vigorous enforcement and prosecution of intellectual property theft of copyrighted works. The OCR revealed that piracy of sound recordings, software and films has increased in Chile, along with an increase in Internet-based piracy. This decline in IPR enforcement is particularly disturbing in light of Chile's failure to enact overdue legislation to implement certain of its intellectual property-related obligations under the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
A similar OCR is underway regarding Canada. On Monday, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) reiterated its request to the USTR that this OCR be concluded and that Canada be elevated to the Special 301 Priority Watch List based on Canada's failure to update its copyright laws to adequately protect copyrighted works in the digital environment.
Neither Watch List nor Priority Watch List status results in immediate trade sanctions. However, these designations indicate US government disapproval of a country's IPR policies and enforcement.