February 2002 News

Argentina and United States Inaugurate Bilateral Council on Trade and Investment

On February 20, the United States and Argentina inaugurated their Bilateral Council on Trade and Investment, which will foster the two countries’ reciprocal trade and investment interests and strengthen coordination in multilateral and regional trade liberalization efforts. The Council’s overarching goal is to promote sustainable economic growth through better market access and freer trade. During the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their governments’ commitment to promoting trade liberalization through the WTO negotiations, the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, and the Four-Plus-One process between the U.S. and Mercosur. The Four-Plus-One will meet at the vice-ministerial level in Buenos Aires on April 15-16. Regarding the FTAA, they agreed that the vice ministers need to develop a set of guiding principles at the April Trade Negotiations Committee meeting in Venezuela in order to launch the FTAA market-access negotiations by May 2002. View USTR press release(No longer available)

WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty to Enter into Force

On February 20, 2002, Honduras became the 30th country to join the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). As a result, the WPPT will enter into force on May 20, 2002. The WPPT's companion treaty, the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), will enter into force on March 6, 2002. Both treaties embody new international legal standards on the protection for copyrighted materials transmitted over digital networks like the Internet. The 30 countries that have acceded or ratified the WPPT are: Albania, Argentina, Belarus, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Georgia, Honduras, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and United States of America. Currently 33 countries have acceded or ratified the WCT.

Federal Register Notice on Procurement Thresholds under WTO Government Procurement Agreement and NAFTA for 2002 and 2003

In a February 21, 2002 Federal Register notice, USTR announced that it has set U.S. dollar thresholds under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and Chapter 10 of the North American Free Trade Agreement. These obligations apply to covered procurements valued at or above the specified U.S. dollar thresholds for the years 2002 and 2003. These threshold values are listed in the Federal Register notice.

View Federal Register notice

China: Secretary Evans to Lead Post-WTO Accession Trade Mission

On February 22, President Bush informed Premier Zhu Rongji that Commerce Secretary Don Evans will lead a delegation of U.S. business executives seeking new opportunities in China to Beijing and Shanghai, April 21-25, 2002. This is the Bush administration's first trade mission to China since its accession to the WTO. The goal of the mission is to strengthen economic relations between China and the United States by helping U.S. businesses explore new trade and investment opportunities that have resulted from China's accession to the WTO.

View text of Commerce Department press release

U.S. to Pursue Action Against Canadian Wheat Board

On February 15, USTR Zoellick announced that the United States will pursue multiple avenues to seek relief for U.S. wheat farmers from the trading practices of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB), a government monopoly trading enterprise. USTR also released an "affirmative finding" that reviews the results of its investigation, details the CWB's monopolistic characteristics, and describes the steps USTR intends to take to address this issue. View USTR press release (no longer available) (no longer available)View USTR affirmative finding (no longer available) and fact sheet (no longer available)

U.S. Requests WTO Panel to Rule on Mexican Telecom Restrictions

On February 13, the U.S. Government asked a WTO dispute settlement panel to rule on a U.S. complaint that Mexico has failed to open its cross-border telecommunications market as required under WTO rules. In its request for a trade panel, the United States listed a series of Mexican government measures designed to stifle price competition in cross-border telecom services. View USTR press release(no longer available)

Joint Commerce Department/USTR Annual Report on Subsidies Enforcement

In February 2002, the Department of Commerce and USTR transmitted to Congress the 2002 Annual Report on Subsidies Enforcement. Section 281 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act requires Commerce and USTR to issue a joint report no later than February 1st of each year detailing the subsidy monitoring and enforcement activities during the preceding year. The 2002 Annual Report on Subsidies Enforcement outlines the Administration's plan to "continue to take strong, pro-active steps to address the impact of distortive subsidies on American firms and their workers in both the United States and foreign markets."

View Subsidies Enforcement Annual Report to Congress

USTR Announces Results of "Out-Of-Cycle" Reviews for Bahamas and Slovenia

On February 12, USTR Zoellick announced the outcome of "out-of-cycle" reviews for the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection in the Bahamas and Slovenia. The Bahamas has been placed on the Watch List for its failure to improve its laws protecting copyrighted material. Slovenia's passage of legislation to protect confidential test data has kept it off the Watch List. View USTR press release(no longer available)

DOC Assistant Secretary Lash Underscores Need for Better IPR Enforcement During Asia Visit

During visits to Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, Commerce Assistant Secretary for Market Access and Compliance William Lash emphasized the lax protection of intellectual property rights in those countries and emphasized the need to beef up enforcement. In Thailand, Mr. Lash said that "trade relations between the United States and ASEAN could become strained, since burgeoning piracy in the region led to huge revenue losses for the U.S. economy." While visiting each country, the Assistant Secretary pressed for aggressive enforcement of copyright laws and stiff penalties for pirates. In Manila, for example, Mr. Lash advocated putting copyright pirates "out of business, fined or jailed or having their factories destroyed or seized by governments." Mr. Lash congratulated Taiwan on its recent accession to the WTO, but added, "The top priority for Taiwan now is compliance (with WTO regulations). And IPR is a big part of that." In remarks to Taiwan's American Chamber on January 24, he stated, "...now that Taiwan has achieved WTO membership, it must be vigilant about complying with its new obligations...Taiwan's leadership must not allow lapses in enforcement and implementation to denigrate its promises and international standing." While he noted that Taiwan has made "important progress on legislative TRIPs compliance and increasing patent terms of protection on pharmaceuticals, the piracy on optical media remains troubling and is unacceptable."

View text of Assistant Secretary Lash's remarks to American Chamber

Slovenia Publishes Data Exclusivity Protection in Official Gazette

On January 30, Slovenia's official gazette reinstated data exclusivity protection (DEP) beginning in 60 days. The gazette rescinded Amendment 116a (to Article 116 of the December 1999 law on medicinal products), promulgated in June 2000, that delayed implementing data exclusivity protection until January 1, 2003. Addressing the 60-day period in his January 7 letter to USTR Zoellick, Minister of Health Keber wrote that no new or pending DEP-linked applications have been submitted, were expected, or would be allowed prior to implementation. Industry representatives feel that the GOS's implementation of DEP represents a major victory for IPR in Slovenia and Eastern Europe as a whole.

Commerce Under Secretary Aldonas Convenes First Meeting of Textile Working Group

On February 1, Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Grant Aldonas chaired the first meeting of the Textile Working Group, an interagency group formed to ensure the Administration fulfills commitments made in advance of the Trade Promotion Authority vote. Officials from Commerce, USTR, Labor, Treasury, Justice, State, and the NSC attended. Mr. Aldonas proposed the creation of several subgroups to address specific industry concerns. The subgroups will cover a range of issues, including compliance with and enforcement of existing laws and agreements, and ensuring full access to trade remedy laws consistent with international rights and obligations.

View Commerce Department press release

WTO Director General to Chair Trade Negotiations Committee

On February 1, WTO Member Governments--assembled for the first meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC)--reached a broad agreement on the structure of the negotiations launched at Doha. They elected the WTO Director-General ex officio to chair the TNC and outlined the guidelines and procedures for the negotiations, which are scheduled to run until January 1, 2005. The TNC also agreed that there should be seven negotiating bodies: on agriculture; services; non-agricultural market access; rules; trade and environment; geographical indications for wines and spirits under the TRIPs Agreement; and reform of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

View WTO press release

Mexico: Proposed Standards (January 21 to February 1, 2002)

View recently proposed and enacted Mexican Government standards