Negotiating parties of the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have from May 1, 2011, until May 1, 2013, to sign the agreement. Subsequently, the ACTA would enter into force after the sixth instrument of ratification, acceptance, or approval ("formal approval") is deposited by the ACTA participants. Participants to the ACTA negotiation are submitting the treaty to their respective domestic authorities to undertake relevant domestic processes for ratification, acceptance, or approval. To date, no negotiating party, including the United States, has submitted a formal instrument of approval. On July 11, 2012, Mexico signed the ACTA. The ACTA requires ratification in the Mexican Congress. On July 4, 2012, the European Parliament voted against the ACTA, meaning that neither the EU nor its individual member states can join the agreement in its current form. Amid widespread protests by advocates of Internet free speech, several EU member states decided in early 2012 to suspend or not initiate their domestic adoption of the ACTA, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia. On February 22, 2012, the European Commission placed the ACTA ratification process on hold and submitted the agreement to the European Court of Justice to determine if the ACTA is compatible with EU law. On January 25, 2012, the European Union and 22 EU member states signed the ACTA. At that time, five EU member states (Cyprus, Germany, Estonia, the Netherlands, and Slovakia) did not sign the agreement, reportedly due to procedural issues. On October 1, 2011, the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States signed the ACTA. At that time, representatives from the European Union, Mexico, and Switzerland "confirmed their continuing support for and preparations to sign the Agreement as soon as practicable." In addition, all participants affirmed their goal "to work cooperatively to achieve the Agreement's prompt entry into force, and to actively support its goals." In May 2011, ACTA negotiating parties publicly released a final version of the agreement text. In October 2010, the 11 th and final round of negotiation for the ACTA concluded, nearly three years after the negotiation began. The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a new agreement for combating intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement. Negotiated by the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union and its 27 member states, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and Switzerland, the ACTA is intended to build on the standards of IPR protection and enforcement set forth in the 1995 World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and to address emerging IPR issues believed to be not addressed adequately in the TRIPS Agreement, such as IPR infringement in the digital environment. The ACTA, which was negotiated outside of the WTO, focuses primarily on enforcement of trademarks and copyrights; enforcement of patents generally is outside of the agreement's scope. The ACTA establishes a legal framework for IPR enforcement, which contains provisions on civil enforcement, border measures, criminal enforcement in cases of willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale, and enforcement for the infringement of copyrights or related rights over digital networks. It also provides for enhanced enforcement best practices and increased international cooperation. The ACTA negotiation concluded in October 2010, nearly three years after it began. Countries have from May 1, 2011, until May 1, 2013, to sign the agreement. All negotiating parties, except Mexico and Switzerland, have signed the agreement. ACTA signatories are to proceed with domestic ratification procedures. The ACTA would enter into force after the sixth instrument of ratification, acceptance, or approval ("formal approval") is deposited. No negotiating party has submitted a formal instrument of approval to date. The idea of negotiating the ACTA was conceived in 2006 by the United States and Japan as a new tool for combating counterfeiting and piracy. During 2006 and 2007, a group of interested parties—Canada, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States—held preliminary talks about the proposed ACTA. In October 2007, this group of participants, perceived as "like-minded" by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), announced their intention to begin negotiating this new agreement. By the time that formal negotiations were launched in June 2008, the number of parties involved in the ACTA negotiation had grown to also include Australia, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, and Singapore. At that time, the United States sought to conclude the agreement by the end of that year. However, participants to the ACTA held 11 rounds of negotiation, discussing various aspects of the agreement (see Table 1 ). The final round was held in Japan in October 2010, during which ACTA participants resolved nearly all substantive issues, and produced a consolidated and largely finalized text of the proposed agreement, which was to be submitted "ad referendum" to their respective authorities. On October 1, 2011, the governments of Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States signed the ACTA. Representatives from the European Union, Mexico, and Switzerland "confirmed their continuing support for and preparations to sign the Agreement as soon as practicable." In addition, all participants affirmed their goal "to work cooperatively to achieve the Agreement's prompt entry into force, and to actively support its goals." Subsequently, on January 25, 2012, the European Union and 22 of its member states signed the ACTA, and on July 11, 2012, Mexico also signed the agreement. The signatories to the agreement have announced that they "will proceed with domestic ratification procedures and strive to put the Agreement into effect at an early date." The agreement would enter into force after the sixth instrument of ratification, acceptance, or approval is deposited by the ACTA participants. To date, no country has deposited an instrument of approval. Negotiating parties are now submitting the ACTA through their domestic approval processes, which differ across countries. For example: The USTR, which conducted the ACTA negotiation on behalf of the U.S. government, negotiated the ACTA as an executive agreement. Accordingly, the ACTA would not be subject to congressional approval, unless it were to require statutory changes to U.S. law. The USTR maintains that the ACTA is consistent with existing U.S. law and does not require the enactment of implementing legislation. It is not clear if the United States has a timetable for submitting a formal instrument of approval for the ACTA. The European Commission negotiated the ACTA on behalf of EU member states. In contrast to the United States, in order for ACTA to enter into force in the EU, the European Parliament and all 27 member states must sign and ratify the ACTA. On July 4, 2012, the European Parliament voted against the ACTA, meaning that neither the EU nor its individual member states can join the agreement in its current form. EU member states have been undertaking national ratification processes. In recent months, amid widespread protests by advocates of Internet free speech, several EU member states decided to suspend or not initiate their domestic adoption of the ACTA, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia. On February 22, 2012, the European Commission placed the ACTA ratification process on hold and submitted the agreement to the European Court of Justice to determine if the ACTA is compatible with EU law. There is the possibility that the European Commission may try to revive the ACTA following the court ruling. Certain ACTA participants, such as the United States, EU, and Switzerland, claim that implementation of the ACTA will not require changes to their domestic legal systems. However, other countries may have to pass new laws in order to implement the enforcement standards of the ACTA, including granting ex-officio authority to customs officials to initiate criminal investigations in cases of trademark infringement and copyright piracy and providing legal remedies for circumventing technological protection measures (TPM). Some of the digital enforcement standards of the ACTA are contained in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and Performance and Phonograms Treaty ("WIPO Internet treaties"). For example, on June 29, 2012, Canada finalized passage of a copyright bill, C-11, that incorporates the WIPO Internet treaties into Canadian domestic law, among other things. Canada signed the WIPO Internet Treaties in 1997, but had not entered the treaties into force. Previous copyright reform bills failed to advance before prior dissolutions of Parliament. Most countries that were involved in the ACTA negotiation are economically advanced countries. They generally consider IPR-based industries to be important to their economies. Together, these countries constitute roughly half of total world merchandise exports. Participants to the ACTA negotiation generally have been part of major international trade liberalization efforts (see Table 2 ). All of the countries have acceded to the WTO TRIPS Agreement, most have implemented the WIPO Internet treaties, and several have implemented or are negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States. The ACTA establishes a legal framework for IPR enforcement, increased international cooperation, and enhanced enforcement measures. What follows is a summary of key provisions of the ACTA. The initial provisions chapter of the ACTA discusses the nature and scope of the agreement, its relationship to existing agreements (including the TRIPS Agreement) and domestic laws, provisions on privacy and disclosure of information, and definitions of terms used in the agreement.