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Taiwan to stay on IPR watch list

Despite progress Taiwan has made in combating piracy and counterfeiting of intellectual property, it still has a long way to go before the US removes it from a watch list of violators, a senior US trade official said Wednesday.

The official's comments came as the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office released its annual report on trade disputes between the US and other countries, which contained substantial criticisms of Taiwan's piracy problems despite a year-long improvement in US- Taiwan trade relations.

"Taiwan has certainly made progress," the official said at a press conference called to announce the release of the report, the 2005 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.

"They [Taiwan] are making concerted efforts on enforcement and such," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In January, the USTR office removed Taiwan from its Priority Watch List of particularly bad intellectual property violators under it's so-called Special 301 Law, and placed it on the law's Watch List, a less severe rating. In addition, last November, both sides resumed high-level trade talks for the first time in nearly two years. The trade official, however, indicated that Taiwan would not be completely removed from the Special 301 list any time soon.

"When all of our outstanding issues are resolved, they will come off the list. If not, we will continue to monitor them," the official said. The office is slated to issue its next annual Special 301 report on April 29.

US businesses estimate that they suffered losses of US$315 million last year due to intellectual property infringement in Taiwan. However, the report says, Taiwan continues to take measures to improve anti-piracy efforts, including intensifying raids against manufacturers and retailers, making permanent the previously temporary task forces, and amending the copyright law to increase penalties.

Nevertheless, the USTR notes a substantial reduction in counterfeit goods from Taiwan smuggled to the US in recent years, as a result of Taiwan's efforts. Counterfeit goods from Taiwan seized by US customs officials dropped from US$26.5 million in fiscal year 2002 to US$610,000 the following year, and to US$60,000 in the first half of this fiscal year, the report says.

It quotes the Business Software Alliance, a major US trade lobbyist group, as conceding that the software piracy rate in Taiwan fell from 54 percent in 2002 to 43 percent in 2003, and that it remained unchanged last year.

Also see story:
USTR cites high level of fake goods
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