Posted on 20/11/2008 by
In May this year the New Zealand government announced its intention to participate in negotiations to develop a multilateral agreement, aimed at combating trade in counterfeit and pirated goods. This agreement has become known as the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and is being led by the United States of America and a number of other developed countries including, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
The ACTA, is intended to establish new global standards to safeguard the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), to more effectively respond to the prolific trade in counterfeit and pirated goods. The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) estimates that counterfeit and pirated goods account for 5 – 7% of all world trade. This worldwide proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods poses an ever increasing threat to both sustainable economic development and consumers’ health and safety.
Details relating to the substantive provisions of the ACTA are not publicly available yet. However, it is understood that the provisions will centre around three key concepts: “increasing international cooperation between enforcement agencies and right holders; establishing best practices for enforcement; and providing a more effective legal framework to combat counterfeiting and piracy”. The goal of the ACTA is said to be to set a new higher benchmark for enforcement that countries can join on a voluntary basis.
No time frame has been set for when a definitive agreement will be made. The government has indicated that any decision to formally agree to, and be bound by, the ACTA will be made after the substance of the agreement has been agreed on, the public have been consulted and a national cost/benefit assessment has been made.
Stay posted for future developments.