The proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA): Global Policy Implications

The United States, the European Communities (EC) and its Members States and host of other developed countries as well as Mexico intent to conclude an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The stated purpose of the Agreement is to establish a common standard for intellectual property (IP) rights enforcement to combat global infringement of IP rights. Formal negotiations, according to reports, are set to start in the week of 2nd June 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland. The proposal for a new trade treaty on IP, at time when there are many questions regarding the impact of IP rights on development, access to knowledge, global trade competition and consumer interests, has obviously led to some sharp criticism of ACTA. The justification for the treaty, the process for negotiations and the potential impact of a treaty of this nature are among the many questions that have been raised. A small number of countries, driven by a narrow set of industrial interests, are proposing to tackle a global problem by developing a tool with global reach while excluding the majority of the world population from the discussion. In this issue of IQsensato’s “In Focus” we look at the global policy implications of the proposed treaty. We conclude that so far the proponents of the treaty can be said to be engaged in “counterfeit policy-making” and that there is need for global action to challenge this type of policy-making on such a critical subject.

The full agreement details are available here [pdf].