[A2k] ACTA Update from Canadian officials

[Michael Geist]

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4092/125/

ACTA Update: New Meetings, New Partners, New Issues

The Canadian government held an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
consultation meeting today focused on pharmaceutical and access to
medicines issues.  The meeting was smaller than the earlier
consultation in April, but featured some important new information
about the ACTA process including a fuller description of planned
negotiating meetings, details on the upcoming Morocco meeting, and
confirmation on an inquiry from Brazil about joining the negotiations.

1.   Negotiation schedule

The ACTA partners met on June 11th to discuss ACTA related issues and
committed at the meeting to continue with the negotiations.  The next
meeting is set for Morocco in July with later meetings currently
planned for October (Korea) and December (Mexico).  There are
additional tentative plans for meetings in February and April 2010.

2.   The Morocco meeting

Officials advised that the Morocco meeting will be a two-day meeting
that focuses on ACTA chapters involving international co-operation,
enforcement, and institutional issues.  The meeting will also address
some "housekeeping" issues including ongoing transparency concerns.
The Internet-related provisions will not be a focus and the Internet-
related issues has not progressed beyond the U.S. non-paper that
surveyed other ACTA participants on the state of their digital
copyright laws (in other words, there is still no draft text).

3.   New partners

During the meeting, I asked whether ACTA was open to new countries to
join the negotiations before they conclude.  Canada hedged, noting
that the issue would be discussed at the Morocco meeting and that it
would depend upon the country and the context.  The issue has
apparently become more urgent since Canadian officials confirmed that
Brazil has approached one ACTA participant about the prospect of
joining, but have not received an answer.  Moreover, other countries
may have made similar inquiries.  I wrote about the desirability of
broader participation earlier this year.

4.   The De Minimis Exception

The issue of creating a de minimis exception within ACTA was raised
during the discussion.  The exception would be designed to carve out
small quantities and personal use issues from border enforcement.
Officials noted that the primary goal is to address large scale
counterfeiting and that the treaty should be non-intrusive and
practical.  Canada is one of at least three countries that have put
forward de minimis language.  Officials said that there was agreement
in principle with including some form of de minimis provision in the
treaty.
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Professor Michael A. Geist
Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law
57 Louis Pasteur St., Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
Tel: 613-562-5800, x3319 I  Fax: 613-562-5124
mgeist@pobox.com  I  http://www.michaelgeist.ca
Twitter: @michaelgeist  I  facebook.com/michaelgeist