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 The new steps announced today include a promise of a strong, speedy response for countries that fail to meet commitments, a determination to gain from U.S. trading partners a high level of protection, a vow to pay special attention to countries that do not enforce their laws and a pledge to the initiate "immediate action plans" to make sure that countries do not take up permanent residence on the "special 301" lists.

Ambassador Kantor declared that USTR will conduct "out-of-cycle" reviews (including deadlines and benchmarks for evaluating a country's performance) to address problems of slow legislative progress or erratic enforcement efforts. Kantor stressed the fact that the 1974 Trade Act permits the USTR to make additional identifications at any time that the facts warrant.

Ambassador Kantor stressed that he was committed to giving a fresh direction to the "special 301" review process to ensure that this Administration's objectives are clear and that other countries know what we expect. "Any partner that fails to meet its commitments," Kantor said "can expect a strong, speedy response from this Administration." Kantor added, "I am determined to ensure that foreign countries provide high levels of protection because I want to make sure that we solve particular problems brought to our attention by the U.S. intellectual property community."

Kantor emphasized that it is critical that foreign governments enforce laws that they have already enacted. "Countries that do not enforce their laws can expect to receive special attention under "special 301," Kantor went on to note. "Moreover, the United States will not tolerate countries that are exporters of pirate and counterfeit goods."

"In the past, rather than steady progress we have seen an annual Spring-time flurry of enforcement actions," Kantor said, and he vowed to not let this continue. "Countries must make sustained progress in addressing the problem issues." To address these problems, Kantor announced that his staff (working with an interagency team of government experts), will initiate "immediate action plans" that will include deadlines and benchmarks for evaluating a country's performance.

"I am determined to enforce these deadlines and take action, if necessary, through out-of-cycle reviews of a country's status under "special 301."