Page:Special 301 Report 1998.pdf/7



United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky today announced the Administration's decision with respect to this year's review under the so-called "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act).

This decision reflects the Administration's continued commitment to aggressive enforcement of protection for intellectual property. Intellectual property protection has been improving in part as a result of the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement). The decision also reflects progress made over the course of 1997 in resolving many longstanding problems.

The decision announced by Ambassador Barshefsky includes the following specific actions:


 * continuing the section 301 investigation of Paraguay following on its identification as a Priority Foreign Country on January 16, 1998.


 * initiating WTO dispute settlement procedures against Greece and the EU.


 * monitoring China under Section 306 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. This means that USTR will be in a position to move directly to trade sanctions if there is slippage in China's enforcement of the bilateral IPR agreements.


 * placing 15 trading partners on the Special 301 Priority Watch List including Israel, Macao, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, the European Union, Greece, India, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Dominican Republic, and Kuwait and conducting an "out-of-cycle" review of Bulgaria.


 * placing 31 trading partners on the Watch List, and conducting out-of-cycle reviews of Hong Kong, Colombia, Jordan, and Vietnam.


 * In addition, the Administration noted growing concerns or highlighted developments and expectations for progress in 17 trading partners.

Other WTO dispute settlement proceedings and out-of-cycle reviews will be initiated if necessary.