Call for Downgrade in Thai trade status

However, Puangrat Asavapisit, director-general of the Intellectual Property (IP) Department, said Thailand still had a good chance of keeping its present Priority Watch List (PWL) status, which is

more favourable to Thai exports shipped to the US.

She said the downgrade request was made by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) via the US Trade Representative (USTR).

worst status

The USTR is due to review the status of each trading

partner in April.

If downgraded to PFC, Thai shipments will be subject to higher US tariffs, and some tax privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences will be lost.

PFC is the worst status in terms of the US's view on IP suppression. The US accounted for about 20 per cent of Thailand's total exports last year.

"The PhRMA is unkind [for making such a request], even though we've been serious in cracking down on IP violations, including fake medicines," Puangrat said.

However, the US phar-maceutical lobby may still resent Thailand's recent moves on imposing compul-sory licensing on certain US-patented drugs, she said.

However, there are several US supporters for Thailand maintaining its PWL status, including the Motion Pictures Association of America, the International Intellectual Property Alliance, the Cable

and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia and the Business Software Alliance.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association and Levi Strauss have not commented on Thailand's trade status this year, as they are cooperating with Thai authorities to stamp out counterfeit goods here.

Puangrat also said Thailand had little chance to see its status upgraded, due to the present US and global economic crises, which will prompt the US government to protect its domestic industries.

With the PWL status assigned last year, Thai products to the US are hit with higher duties than are goods from the Philippines and Indonesia, which are on the USTR's Watch List. However, a US report recently indicated the status of both countries could be demoted to PWL.

Department officials next month will travel to Washington to meet with the USTR to clarify Thailand's progress in IP protection and ask why Thailand is still at PWL despite the crackdown, which lowered the damage by more than US$100 million (Bt3.56 billion) this year.

Last month alone, police and customs agents reported 366 cases of IP infringement with the seizure of 310,494 items.

Puangrat said some countries were likely to be upgraded despite lower efficiency in tackling IP infringement.