THE Philippines remains absent from the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) regular and priority Watch List for 2015, marking the country’s sustained observance of intellectual-property rights (IPR) for the second year in a row.
Based on the USTR’s Special 301 Report, an annual review of nations’ enforcement to IPR, the Philippines continued to notch improvements in IPR enforcement in 2014, meriting its absence in the US watch list for 2015.
“Administrative enforcement reforms in the Philippines have resulted in streamlined procedures, enhanced interagency cooperation, and more enforcement action, including increased seizures of pirated and counterfeit goods,” the USTR noted in its report. The US executive agency said government-wide cooperation is key to effectively curbing piracy, counterfeiting and other forms of IPR violations.
In the Philippines, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has formed the National Committee in Intellectual Property Rights along with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Customs, National Bureau of Investigation, Optical Media Board, Philippine National Police, Department of Justice, Food and Drug Administration, National Book Development Board, Office of the Special Envoy for Transnational Crime, National Telecommunications Commission, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Also noted in the report is the US’ continuing discussion with the Philippines regarding GIs, or geographical indications. GIs are a type of IPR that can be used to identify a product as originating in the territory of a particular country, region or locality where its quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to its geographical origin. Examples of these are Bordeaux (wine) and Roquefort (cheese).
The report states that GI discussions are being carried out to ensure countries’ use of GIs do not undercut the market access of US industries, as GIs have a substantial effect in boosting a product’s commercial value.
“It is an indication of our productive partnership with the private sector. With an effective and reliable IP regime, we can expect more foreign-direct investments, particularly IP-intensive industries in the country, and improved competitiveness,” IPOPHL Deputy Director Allan B. Gepty said in a text message.
The country was first delisted in 2014, after almost two decades of being in the report, gradually easing out of its “Priority Watch List” category to the regular “Watch List” until it was finally removed last year. The report lists three categories for identifying violators of IPR: “Priority Foreign Country,” “Priority Watch List” and the regular “Watch List.”
The USTR’s Special 301 Report aims to push countries to better adhere to IPR standards; trade sanctions can be imposed by the US government on countries it has designated as a “priority foreign country” that has consistently committed IPR violations.
More than just a mark of good housekeeping on the part of the Philippines, its absence from the USTR priority or regular watch list signals the country’s commitment to adhere to rules of the game set forth in today’s “modern” free trade agreements, which now includes
IPR observance.
This is especially significant as the DTI said recently that the Philippines remains keen on joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The TPP is an expansive, multilateral trade agreement being negotiated by 12 countries and serves as the Philippines’s only shot at getting a preferential market access to the world’s second largest economy—the US—since the Western nation now appears to be closed to bilateral agreements.
The list is compiled yearly and is based on the assessment of the US of its trading partners’ compliance to IPR’s protection.
In March the Philippines claimed a victory in staying off the USTR’s out-of-cycle Notorious Markets report—a complementary report to the Special 301 Report that lists infamous online and physical marketplaces where infringing activities are rampant and pose substantial harm to US goods.
Quiapo Shopping District, Greenhills, Binondo, Makati Cinema Square and 168 Malls were previously included in the list before 2012.