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 Section I – Developments in Intellectual Property Rights Protection and Enforcement. Each assessment is based upon the specific facts and circumstances that shape IPR protection and enforcement regimes in a particular trading partner.

In the year ahead, USTR will continue to interact closely with the governments of the trading partners that are discussed in this report. USTR expects that, in preparation for and in the course of those interactions, it will:

 engage with U.S. stakeholders, the U.S. Congress, and other interested parties to ensure that the U.S. Government position is well-informed by the full range of views on the pertinent issues;

conduct extensive discussions with individual trading partners regarding their respective IPR regimes;

encourage those trading partners to engage fully, and with the greatest degree of transparency, with the range of stakeholders on IPR matters; and

identify, where possible, ways in which the United States can be of assistance. 

USTR will conduct these discussions in a manner that both advances the policy goals of the United States and respects the importance of meaningful policy dialogue with U.S. trading partners.

Additionally, USTR works closely with other agencies to ensure consistency of U.S. trade policy objectives with other Administration policies. As one example, USTR works closely with the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the Administration's trade policy (including support for the 2001 WTO Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health) is consistent with the Administration's public health policies and priorities.

2011 Special 301 List

The 2011 Special 301 review process examined IPR protection and enforcement in 77 trading partners. Following extensive research and analysis, USTR has listed the 42 trading partners below as follows:

Priority Watch List: Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela.

Watch List: Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

Section 306 Monitoring: Paraguay.

2011 Out-of-Cycle Reviews

An Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) is a tool that USTR uses to encourage progress on IPR issues of concern. It provides an opportunity for heightened engagement with trading partners to address and remedy such issues. Successful resolution of specific IPR issues of concern can lead to a change in a trading partner's status on the Special 301 list outside of the typical time frame for the annual Special 301 Report. In 2011, USTR will conduct an OCR of Italy to monitor progress on IPR protection and enforcement, in particular in the area of piracy over the Internet. USTR may conduct additional