Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)

On November 6, 2009, USTR released a detailed summary of the current state of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. The summary, which all of the ACTA negotiating partners drafted, sets out the specific topics under discussion in the negotiations, and reflects the Obama Administration's commitment to transparency.

The objective of the ACTA negotiations is to negotiate a new, state-of-the art agreement to combat counterfeiting and piracy.  The United States has been working with several trading partners, including Australia, Canada, the European Union and its 27 member states, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland, to negotiate the agreement.

The ACTA is intended to assist in the efforts of governments around the world to more effectively combat the proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods, which undermines legitimate trade and the sustainable development of the world economy, and in some cases contributes to organized crime and exposes American families to dangerous fake products. Members of the public who are interested in understanding the U.S. approach to possible legal framework provisions of the ACTA should review the "ENFORCEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS" Article of the intellectual property rights chapters of recent U.S. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). For example:

• Australia FTA Article of the intellectual property rights chapter

• Korea FTA Article of the intellectual property rights chapter

• Morocco FTA Article of the intellectual property rights chapter

• Singapore FTA Article of the intellectual property rights chapter

The agenda for the sixth round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations can be found here.

The agenda for the seventh round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations can be found here.

The proposed agenda for the 8th Round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations in Wellington, New Zealand set for April 12-16, 2010 can be found here.

The proposed agenda for the 9th Round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations in Lucerne, Switzerland set for June 28-July 1, 2010 can be found here. Topics on the agenda refer to sections of the draft ACTA text, a copy of which is available above. USTR welcomes stakeholder input on the issues to be discussed.

The proposed agenda for the 10th Round of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiations set for August 16-20, 2010 can be found here.

USTR responded to an inquiry from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) requesting information about the ACTA negotiations on March 2, 2010. Read USTR's letter answering Senator Ron Wyden's questions here. Read Senator Wyden's original letter here.