Brussels, 19/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the Saint Petersburg Summit on 15 and 16 July, the heads of state and of government of the G8 adopted a declaration reaffirming their “commitment to strengthening individual and collective efforts” to combat the worldwide scourge of piracy and counterfeiting, “often linked to organised crime”, which is threatening sustainable development, innovation and consumer health. “Combating trade in pirated and counterfeit products is a complex problem which assumes, in the context of globalisation, a transborder character, and can only be solved through individual and joint efforts by all nations and relevant international organisations,” stresses the declaration, which notes the “usefulness of international congresses and workshops devoted to effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights” (IPR). The G8 stresses the need to strengthen cooperation among its members and their partners, and also with the relevant international organisations (WTO, the World Customs Organisation - WCO - and the World Intellectual Property Organisation - WIPO - in particular), to “give priority to promoting and upholding laws, regulations and/or procedures to strengthen intellectual property enforcement”, raising awareness in civil society and in the business community of legal ways to protect and enforce IPR, providing technical assistance in that area to developing countries and establishing close cooperation between customs authorities. To this end, the G8 proposes in the short term to: - create in each G8 country a website providing businesses and individuals with information on procedures necessary to secure and enforce their IPR and raise awareness of the threats posed by counterfeiting to public health and safety; - engage the OECD in preparing a report estimating the economic consequences of piracy and counterfeiting on national economies and right holders, and on public health ands safety; - implement, in cooperation with WIPO, WTO, OECD, Interpol and WCO, technical assistance pilot programmes within the G8 in interested developing countries; - improve border enforcement through increased customs coordination and exchange of enforcement information and best practice; - prepare recommendations aimed at improving G8 member countries' cooperative actions to combat serious and organised IPR crimes; - study the possibilities of strengthening the international legal framework pertaining to PR enforcement.
Unifab, the French anti-counterfeiting association, immediately welcomed the commitment by G8 leaders. “This action also means the adoption of concrete measures against trans-national networks involved in this type of trade and there has to be greater transparency and control over Internet site operators, particularly e-Bay, express transport companies, forwarders, container owners and companies, and bank card groups, which are sometimes clearly complicit in this kind of crime,” says a press release, which describes the G8 declaration as “not decisive” in defence of IPR.