. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  IP/C/W/468 
10 March 2006 
 
 (06-1084) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:  English 
 
 
 
ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS 
 
Communication from the European Communities  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 9 March 2006, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the European Communities.  
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1. At the meeting of the Council for TRIPS of  14 and 15 June 2005, the European Communities 
(hereinafter "the EC") circulated a Communication on  Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights  
(IP/C/W/448), underlining the worrying evolution of  counterfeiting and piracy worldwide and asking 
the point to be put on the agenda of this C ouncil.  The present communication follows up from the 
first discussions between WTO Members on the basis of  the June Communication.  It fulfils the EC's 
commitment to further elaborate on the questions to be addressed in the Council for TRIPS.  2. The increase in value and volume of IPR infringeme nts in recent years is a clear indicator that 
the level of execution and the results of the im plementation of the IPR enforcement measures 
prescribed by the TRIPS Agreement can certain ly be questioned and must be improved. 
 3. At a moment when the lack of enforcement of  IPRs is being debated in fora such as the G8, 
Interpol, the OECD, the WCO and WIPO, it would be  hard to conceive that the Council for TRIPS 
would not provide its contribution to improve the situation.  
4. The EC reaffirms its conviction that the Council for TRIPS, which is responsible for 
monitoring the compliance of 149 countries with the most comprehensive multilateral set of rules in 
the field (Article 68 of the TRIPS Agreement) should be in a position to assess how these rules are being implemented by the competent national authorities.  For this purpose – and without prejudice to any questions as regards WTO Members' rights a nd obligations under the TRIPS Agreement – the 
Council for TRIPS should foster a dialogue among WTO Members with a view to identifying 
solutions to such implementation deficiencies.  5. Furthermore, WTO Members have in the past already provided a valuable contribution to this debate in the form of their replies to the Check list of Issues on Enforcement (IP/C/5), an exercise 
launched by a Decision of the Council for TRIPS of 21 November 1995.  It is the EC's view that a 
summary of these contributions would constitute a u seful element for future discussions.  Therefore, 
the EC requests that the WTO Secretariat provide for a synopsis of Members' contributions to the said 
Checklist of Issues.   
 IP/C/W/468 
Page 2  
 
  6. In addition, in order to achieve the first objective put forward in the communication of the 
EC, i.e. " to understand where the main problems, diffic ulties and shortcomings are by examining the 
implementation of TRIPS provis ions on enforcement in detail ", the EC proposes that the discussion 
should be structured and focused in the following manner:  
7. Specific enforcement mechanis ms described in the different Sections of Part III of the 
TRIPS Agreement should be discussed separately in de tail in subsequent meetings of the Council for 
TRIPS.  The discussion should be pursued along the following steps:  
• The identification of difficulties to implem ent the relevant TRIPS provisions (legal, 
technical, logistical, etc.). 
 
• The examination of appropriate mechanis ms to address the identified difficulties 
(technical co-operation, co-operation from ri ght holders, human and financial resources, 
administrative obstacles, etc.). 
 
• The search of a co-ordinated response at the TRIPS level through various tools, including 
the promotion of best practices, etc. 
 
8. In view of its relevance and effectiveness in the fight against the transnational circulation of 
goods infringing IP rights, the EC proposes that the firs t theme to be discussed at the next meeting of 
the Council for TRIPS should be "border measu res" (Articles 51 to 60 and 69 of the 
TRIPS Agreement).  Indeed, customs' prime role in stopping the international movement of fake 
goods is shown by the fact that they are respons ible for approximately 70% of all seizures of 
counterfeits made globally.  9. The discussion could in particular focus on the following provisions:  
• Suspension of release by customs authorities: 
 
  - Scope of the IP rights protected; 
   - Scope of the customs situations c overed (import, export and transhipment). 
 
• Operational performance/effectiveness. 
 
• Accessibility to right holders.  
 
• Exchange of information and coope ration between customs authorities. 
 10. The EC is ready to launch the discussion with a presentation on the theme proposed at 
paragraph 9 at the next Council for TRIPS.  
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