A US official yesterday harshly criticized Taiwan's lax protection of intellectual property rights and warned the government to ensure proper implementation of WTO commitments or risk damaging its international standing.
William Lash, assistant secretary of commerce for market access and compliance said: "Enforcement has been weak -- from the backroom pirates of CDs and DVDs to the larger corporations who pirate business software ... until this property is protected, there will be an unfortunate strain on US-Taiwan economic relations."
Lash, the highest ranking US official to visit Taiwan during George W. Bush's presidency, was speaking at the annual American Chamber of Commerce New Year dinner at which President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was also in attendance.
While Taiwan had "made progress on passing legislation to ensure TRIPS [trade-related IPR] compliance, optical media piracy and use of unlicensed software remain troubling and are unacceptable," Lash said.
Taiwan courts generally mete out only light punishments for IPR violations and have long been criticized as ineffectual by foreign firms and the US government which, Lash pointed out, has Taiwan on its Special 301 priority watch list for negligent enforcement of IPR protection.
"Real deterrents need to be put into place. Simply being given a cease and desist order or being put on a list of people who cannot produce CDs isn't going to cut it," said Lash, who also spoke with the Taipei Times before the dinner.
"Finger-wagging is not going to stop piracy profiteers. Authorities need to up the ante and [send] some people to jail," Lash said.
Besides IPR protection, Lash also highlighted the need for Taiwan to fulfill its market access commitments under the WTO.
"Now that Taiwan has achieved WTO membership, it must be vigilant about complying with its new obligations. ... Failing in this ... would seriously damage Taiwan's international image," Lash said.
Chen, who spoke at the dinner, promised that Taiwan would live up to its obligations as a member of the WTO.
"We will fulfill our responsibilities as a member of the international community and abide by WTO regulations. We are also willing to treat each of our trading partners based on the principles of cooperation, mutual prosperity, equality and reciprocity," Chen said.
Foreign business groups have long been concerned about implementation of the commitments Taiwan made in multilateral discussions with WTO members throughout its almost 12-year entry bid.
In related news, the European Chamber of Commerce Taipei (ECCT) yesterday announced the establishment of a special monitoring system that will keep watch over Taiwan's implementation process.
The ECCT will work with trade representative offices of European Union countries and the governing European Commission to systematically monitor the implementation of Taiwan's WTO commitments, said Martin Hirt, managing partner of McKinsey and Company and executive director of the chamber.The system "would regularly review progress, bring issues to the surface and through our channels of working through the ECCT committees and using our government relationships, help shape the outcome of implementation," said Hirt.
ECCT is currently seeking a law firm to aid in the operation of the monitoring system, said Hirt, who added that despite the establishment of the monitoring system he was confident Taiwan would fulfill its promises.
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