US Priority Watch List status won’t affect Thai trade, privileges: Apiradi

She made the comment after Washington announced that Thailand’s PWL status would remain unchanged, even though the country had tried hard to crack down on intellectual-property infringement, continuously promoting IP awareness and enforcing laws.
Despite the country’s long presence on the PWL, it has not yet affected foreign-investor confidence or trade between Thailand and the US, she said.
“The Kingdom has strenuously attempted to suppress infringement and enforce many IP-rights-related laws. Thailand will continue to solve the problem, in line with the … focus on innovation and the digital economy,” she said.
The government will also emphasise the suppression of copycat goods, which have created problems not only for foreign copyright owners, but also for Thais, she added.
Thailand remains on the PWL as what the United States Trade Representative (USTR) designates a “weak country” in terms of protecting IP rights (IPR), after its latest review – conducted under its “Special 301 Report” measure – of the adequacy and effectiveness of IP protection by US trade partners.
The report was released on Thursday night.
Thailand was downgraded to the PWL in 2007.
Apiradi said she was not surprised that Thailand would be on the PWL for another year, as the US was still concerned about law enforcement.
She acknowledged that although the Thai government in cooperation with the private sector had tried hard to increase IPR protection and suppress violations, it had not yet fulfilled the US requirements.
In the “Special 301 Report” this year, 11 countries are listed on the PWL. Besides Thailand, they are Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine and Venezuela.
Two countries have been upgraded from PWL to Watch List status – Pakistan and Ecuador.
Other countries on the Watch List are Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The US said it welcomed Thailand’s stated desire to improve IPR protection and enforcement, including recent remarks by the prime minister acknowledging the importance of respecting such rights and the role they play in making the Thai economy competitive.
However, Washington said IPR did not seem to be a top priority for Thai law enforcement, and there had been limited improvement of poor coordination among government entities despite the launch of the National IP Centre of Enforcement in 2013.
The US therefore urges Thailand to do more to prioritise IPR enforcement and to address long-standing organisational challenges, the USTR said.
The Thai government took several legislative steps in 2014, including an amendment to the Customs Act that provides customs officers with ex officio authority to suspend and seize illegal goods in transit, as well as copyright-law amendments to address unauthorised camcording of movies.
However, the government in drafting several of the Copyright Act amendments failed to give weight to concerns expressed by foreign governments and industry on prior drafts of the law, such as omitting a much-needed landlord-liability provision, the USTR said.
Another Copyright Act amendment, introducing an option for rights holders to obtain a court order to force online service providers to take down infringing content, has resulted in a lack of clarity in the operation of the notice-and-takedown procedures, it added.
Rights holders also express concerns regarding pending legislation imposing content-quota restrictions and the unintended effects of data-security and cybersecurity laws, Washington said, adding that it will be critical for Thai authorities to engage closely with foreign governments and 38 industries as this and other legislation takes shape.
Other concerns highlighted in the report include a backlog in pending patent applications, widespread use of unlicensed software in both the public and private sectors, growing Internet-based copyright piracy, rampant trademark counterfeiting, lengthy civil IPR proceedings and low civil damages, and extensive cable and satellite signal theft.
The US continues to encourage Thailand to provide an effective system for protecting against the unfair commercial use, as well as unauthorised disclosure, of undisclosed test or other data generated to obtain marketing approval for pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical products.