Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 89 / Friday, May 8, 1998 / Notices 25539

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Identification of Countries That Deny

Adequate Protection, or Market

Access, for Intellectual Property Rights

Under Section 182 of the Trade Act of

1974 (Special 301)

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Identification of countries that

deny adequate protection for

intellectual property rights or market

access for persons that rely on

intellectual property protection.

SUMMARY: The United Sates Trade

Representative (USTR) is required by

the ‘‘Special 301’’ provisions in U.S.

trade law to identify those foreign

countries that deny adequate and

effective protection of intellectual

property rights or deny fair and

equitable market access to United States

persons that rely upon intellectual

property protection, and those foreign

countries determined to be priority

foreign countries. These identifications

are presented below.

DATES: These identifications took place

on April 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

N.W., Washington, DC 20508.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Claude Burcky, Director for Intellectual

Property, (202) 395–6864, Steve Fox,

Deputy Director for Intellectual

Property, (202) 395–6864, or Geralyn S.

Ritter, Associate General Counsel, (202)

395–6800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section

182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as

amended (the Trade Act) (19 U.S.C.

2242) (commonly referred to as Special

301) requires the USTR, within 30 days

of the publication of the National Trade

Estimates Report provided for in section

181(b) of the Trade Act, to identify all

trading partners that deny adequate and

effective protection of intellectual

property rights or deny fair and

equitable market acess to United States

persons that rely upon intellectual

property protection. Those countries

that have the most onerous or egregious

acts, policies, or practices that have the

greatest adverse impact (actual or

potential) on the relevant United States

products must be identified as ‘‘priority

foreign countries,’’ unless they are

entering into good faith negotiations or

are making significant progress in

bilateral or multilateral negotiations to

provide adequate and effective

protection for intellectual property

rights. In identifying countries in this

manner, the USTR is directed to take

into account the history of intellectual

property laws and practices of the

foreign country, including any previous

identifications as a priority foreign

country, and the history of efforts of the

United States, and the response of the

foreign country, to achieve adequate and

effective protection and enforcement of

intellectual property rights. In making

these determinations, the USTR must

consult with the Register of Copyrights,

the Commissioner of Patents and

Trademarks, other appropriate officials

of the Federal Government and take into

account information from other sources

such as information submitted by

interested persons.

On April 30, 1998, the USTR

identified 47 trading partners as failing

to provide adequate and effective

intellectual property protection and fair

and equitable market access to persons

that rely on such protection. In addition,

China’s implementation of the 1995 and

1996 Bilateral IPR Agreements will

remain subject to monitoring under

section 306 of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C.

2416). As a result of these agreements

and extensive follow-up work with

Chinese officials, China now has a

functioning system to protect

intellectual property rights (IPR). As an

integral part of this national effort,

numerous laws, regulations and

circulars were issued during 1997.

There has also been continued progress

on enforcement in China. In 1997, U.S.

industry losses from pirated optical

media exports declined very

significantly according to industry

estimates. Nevertheless, we remain

concerned with end-user piracy of

business software, continuing retail

piracy, growing trademark

counterfeiting and problems in

obtaining administrative protection for

pharmaceuticals. U.S. officials will

continue to work to ensure that China

strengthens its enforcement against

illegal importation, distribution,

reproduction and sale of all illegitimate

IPR products.

Fifteen other trading partners were

placed on the administratively-created

‘‘priority watch list,’’ including

Argentina, Bulgaria, the Dominican

Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, the European

Union, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel,

Italy, Kuwait, Macao, Russia and

Turkey. Bulgaria will be subject to

review during the course of the year to

maintain pressure for further progress.

Thirty-one other countries were placed

on the special 301 ‘‘watch list,’’

including Australia, Bahrain, Canada,

Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech

Republic, Denmark, Guatemala,

Honduras, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica,

Japan, Jordan, Korea, Oman, Pakistan,

Peru, The Philippines, Poland, Qatar,

Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa,

Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine, U.A.E.

(United Arab Emirates), Venezuela, and

Vietnam. Of these, at least Colombia,

Hong Kong, Jordan, and Vietnam will be

subject to interim reviews during the

coming year. The USTR highlighted

concerns, developments and

expectations for further progress in 17

other countries. Finally, the USTR

announced the initiation of a WTO

dispute settlement case against Greece

and the European Communities for

violations of the enforcement

obligations of the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights.

Claude Burcky,

Director of Intellectual Property.

[FR Doc. 98–12196 Filed 5–7–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. 301–108]

Determinations Under Section 304 of

the Trade Act of 1974: Argentine

Specific Duties and Non-Tariff Barriers

Affecting Textiles, Apparel, Footwear

and Other Items

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice of determinations,

termination and monitoring.

SUMMARY: The United States Trade

Representative (USTR) has determined

that Argentina’s specific duties on

textiles and apparel and statistical tax

on almost all imports violate the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(GATT) 1994. This determination is

based on the report of a dispute

settlement panel convened under the

auspices of the World Trade

Organization (WTO) at the request of the

United States and the report of the WTO

Appellate Body reviewing the panel

report. The panel report and the

Appellate Body report (the WTO

reports) were adopted by the WTO

Distpute Settlement Body (DSB) on

April 22, 1998. The United States

expects that Argentina will conform its

specific duties and statistical tax to meet

its obligations under the GATT 1994,

consistent with the decisions of the

panel and the Appellate Body. In light

of the foregoing, the USTR will not take

action under section 301 of the Trade

Act of 1974 (the Trade Act) at this time

and has terminated this investigation.

The USTR will monitor Argentina’s

steps to implement the WTO reports