Brussels, 24/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The negotiators of the countries taking part in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) - Australia, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the EU - are meeting between now and 1 October in Tokyo to seek to put the finishing touches to a highly controversial multilateral pact aiming to protect intellectual property from traditional counterfeiting (from clothes to medicines) and from digital counterfeiting (illegal downloads), on the basis of harmonised international standards. Although substantial progress was made at the last session of negotiations held in Washington in August on the chapters covering the civil enforcement and criminal enforcement execution measures, there are some tough issues still to resolve, such as ACTA's protection of geographical indications, which the EU is calling for but the US opposes. Speaking before the European Parliament in early September, Karel De Gucht warned that the EU would revise its participation in the agreement if it turned out to add no value for the Twenty-Seven. The European Trade Commissioner is determined to ensure that geographical indications are covered by ACTA in the same way as copyrights and commercial marks. Tense discussions are also anticipated on the issue of criminal actions linked to patents. Currently, only copyrights and marks come under the criminal domain; the latest version of the text, which is somewhat vague on this point, would open the door to criminal actions in cases of counterfeiting of patents, which is of concern to the IT industry. Lastly, in the face of much criticism, the negotiators meeting in Tokyo must reconcile ACTA with respect for privacy and the fundamental freedoms. (E.H./trans.fl)