7th round of negotiations on an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), 26-29 January 2010

The 7th round of negotiations on an Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was held in Guadalajara (Mexico) on 26-29 January 2010. The ACTA initiative aims to provide an international framework for the enforcement of intellectual property rights in order to fight counterfeiting and piracy.

The negotiations for the ACTA were launched in 2007 and have been joined by the following countries: Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States of America.

Several topics were on the agenda of the 7th round of negotiations, including:

• Civil enforcement;
• Border measures;
• Enforcement procedures in the digital environment;

The detailed content of the intergovernmental negotiations has not been released, but a joint statement has been published at the end of the 7th round of negotiations in which participants in the meeting affirmed their commitment to “collectively enhance transparency”.

Participants agreed that the next meeting would be hosted by New Zealand in April 2010. An agreement is expected to be concluded by the end of 2010.

More:

• Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• Canada: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
• European Union: European Commission
• Japan: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 
• New Zealand: Ministry of Economic Development and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• United States: Office of the United States Trade Representative

• 03-02-2010