US offers FBI in war on piracy
The United States has offered to provide agents from its Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help combat the piracy of intellectual property in Thailand, citing a lack of stringent suppression.
Economic officer Peter Thorin and commercial officer Jennifer Ness from the US Embassy met yesterday with Puangrat Asavapisit, director-general of the Intellectual Property Department, to jointly draw up an action plan to crack down on piracy. To ensure adequate suppression, the US officers offered to provide assistance in different forms, one of which is to offer FBI officers now based in Bangkok to support the investigation of major illegal Thai manufacturers of fake products. The matter is now urgent after the US last week downgraded Thailand from Watch List to Priority Watch List (PWL) status under the US Trade Law. The action plan also aims to unlock Thailand from PWL status. Puangrat said the US would also provide training and knowledge about intellectual-property suppression to Thai officials. "The US emphasised that the suppression should not only focus on small retailers but also take legal action against major copyright violators," Puangrat said. The US also blames government agencies - including the Royal Thai Police, the Department of Special Investigation and the Customs Department - for a lack of coordination in tackling illegal goods. The US has been satisfied with the strong level of suppression in Malaysia and the Philippines, which have been moved to the Watch List. Washington has insisted that PWL status will not lead to removal of tariff privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The US has transparent guidelines for ending GSP with partners, the US officials added. In addition, the US government will no longer consider the recent announcement of compulsory licensing by the Thai government, but instead demand that Thai agencies hold talks with owners of drug patents before implementing compulsory licensing in the future. The US officials will report to the US Trade Representative on the progress of intellectual-property protection measures and suppression in Thailand. Officials from the USTR will later visit the Kingdom. The Intellectual Property Department reported that suppression cases reached 9,575 with 2.82 million confiscated products in 2006. The figures jumped to 19,150 cases and 5.81 million goods in the first quarter this year.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
|
