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United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky today announced the results of the 1998 "Special 301" annual review which examined in detail the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection in over 70 countries. Ambassador Barshefsky also announced that she will, as a result of this year's Special 301 review, initiate WTO dispute settlement consultations with Greece and the European Union, though she took note of recent developments in Greece. This brings to 10 the number of IPR-related WTO complaints filed by the United States. The report also addressed developments in Taiwan and Mexico.

"The progress we have achieved as a direct result of this year's Special 301 annual review underscores the fact that Special 301 is one of the most effective instruments in our trade policy arsenal," stated Ambassador Barshefsky.

In addition, Ambassador Barshefsky announced placement of 15 trading partners on the "Priority Watch List," including Israel, Macao, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, the European Union, Greece, India, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Dominican Republic, and Kuwait. She also placed 31 trading partners on the "Watch List."

Earlier this year, on January 16, Ambassador Barshefsky announced out-of-cycle review decisions with respect to Paraguay and Bulgaria.

At that time Paraguay was identified as a Priority Foreign Country because of its failure to take effective action against alarming levels of piracy and counterfeiting and failure to implement adequate and effective intellectual property laws. In announcing this decision, Ambassador Barshefsky noted that a section 301 investigation would be initiated within 30 days and failure by the Government of Paraguay to address U.S. concerns prior to the close of the investigation could lead to the imposition of bilateral trade sanctions. With respect to the situation in Bulgaria, Ambassador Barshefsky stated that, "should Bulgaria fail to make substantial progress toward