United States trying to build global coalition against organized piracy, officials say
Washington -- International cooperation is required to deal with intellectual property piracy as the trade in counterfeit goods is growing, U.S. government officials say.The influx of counterfeit goods into the United States is a growing problem, said Daniel Baldwin, an assistant commissioner at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to the Commerce Department, seizures of fake and counterfeit goods
at U.S. borders have doubled since 2001. Baldwin told a business group that his
agency has made 14,500 seizures so far in 2006, which is 80 percent more than
its 2005 total.
The United States alone cannot effectively address this problem because it is not feasible to inspect each of the 25 million shipments of goods arriving in the United States each year, he said.
Baldwin said the "first and foremost? component of the U.S. approach to combating intellectual property piracy is to work with international trade partners such as the members of the Group of Eight countries, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the European Union (EU).
Baldwin and another official, Stephen Jacobs, deputy assistant secretary of commerce, spoke November 13 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group.
Jacobs said the administration has set a as a key goal "reaching out to our international trading partners to try and develop a coalition of countries who are willing to target the practices of organized piracy."
At the 2005 U.S.-EU Summit, both sides agreed to work together to fight global piracy and counterfeiting, and subsequently have begun implementing an action plan to promote strong and effective border enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) through customs cooperation. In addition, at their second informal economic ministerial meeting in Washington November 9, EU and U.S. officials announced they would also focus on helping China, India and the rest of the developing world fight counterfeiting and piracy.
"This is not a U.S. problem -- it is a problem around the world," Baldwin said, adding that IPR-infringing goods hurt businesses and consumers everywhere.
Jacobs said that the issue is not ?just a matter of overpaid Hollywood stars and singers.?
According to Interpol, World Customs Organization and International Chamber of Commerce estimates, roughly 7 percent to 8 percent of world trade every year is in counterfeit goods.
By Nadine Siak
USINFO Staff Writer
Source: U.S. Department of State.
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