EU makes transatlantic pledge on piracy

Brussels and Washington have agreed to coordinate their efforts to stamp out abuses of intellectual property rights.

But the two capitals remain divided over the thorny issue of geographical indications - names of food and drink products such as champagne that are protected in Europe but seen as generic in the US.

Intellectual property rights dominated discussions between European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the US Commerce Secretary Carlos Guttierez on Tuesday, the commissioner said.

“The EU and the US are the world’s largest knowledge-based economies, focused on converting creativity into commercially profitable business.”

“But we are also the two largest net importers of counterfeit goods.”

Mandelson said that the trade in counterfeit goods was estimated at around €120-360 billion a year, or some three to nine per cent of total world trade.

“Brands, patents and trademarks are at the heart of our economy,” Gutierrez said.

“Some 800,000 jobs are potentially affected by counterfeiting, and this is why President Bush has made the fight against piracy one of his top priorities.”

Mandelson said that the transatlantic cooperation would include sharing information and analysis and planning joint activities to crack down on piracy.

Other key areas will include enhancing customs procedures and assisting third countries in combating piracy – in particular China, the world’s biggest producer of counterfeit goods.

“We are not taking sides against other countries - we are all in this together - but we are also sending a message to the rest of the world that we are now have a position of zero tolerance on piracy,” said Mandelson.

“Others need to change their behaviour.”

GI discussions continue

Despite the agreement, the two sides still remain divided over the protection of geographical indications.

Mandelson stressed that GIs were as important to European industry as any other patented or trademarked product, and merited the same level of protection.

But Gutierrez told journalists that “discussions were still ongoing” on the issue of GIs, and that they had not been included in the agreement.

Mandelson will be pushing hard for global recognition of European GI products at the world trade talks in Hong Kong next month.

The trade commissioner wants global protection for European added-value products such as wines and spirits, since these are widely regarded as the future of Europe’s food processing sector.

European agriculture will find it increasingly hard to compete with countries such as Brazil once farm subsidies are slashed to comply with WTO rules, and Brussels sees the focus on high quality, niche products as the way forward.

Bilateral agreements with a number of wine-producing countries, such as Australia, new Zealand and South Africa have protected names such as burgundy, Chablis and champagne.

But European wine producers were angry that a recent agreement allowed the US to continue to use their product names as semi-generic terms for an indefinite period.

Other agenda items

Mandelson and Gutierrez also discussed a number of other issues, including the upcoming Doha development talks in Hong Kong.

“There are differences of opinion between Europe and the US on some areas, notably agriculture,” Mandelson said.

“But I don't these differences as being unbridgeable.”

“We also have many areas of common interest when you look at the Doha canvas as a whole.”

“We need to work together to push these common interests, but not to the disadvantage of other countries.”

The two men also agreed that there was a need for further progress on the liberalisation of transatlantic air services – the so-called ‘open skies’ agreement – and improving the regulation of international financial markets.

But new EU proposals on the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals, or REACH – were not discussed at the meeting, but the US remains concerned over their potential impact.

Gutierrez told FT Europe that US companies were still not convinced that the law – which would force them to register some 30,000 substances if they wished to sell them in the EU – was necessary.

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