U.S. and Hong Kong (2000)

2000 Trade Policy Agenda and the 1999 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program

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V. Bilateral Negotiations

A. Asia and the Pacific (Other than China & Japan)

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6. Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region)

a. Intellectual Property Rights

Hong Kong undertook significant enforcement actions over the last year to address the problems of piracy. On the legislative front, the proposal to include copyright piracy and trade mark counterfeiting offences under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance was enacted by the Legislative Council in January, 2000. Significant follow-up efforts, however, are needed as piracy problems continue, and the United States Government will continue to monitor these follow-up efforts closely. The Hong Kong authorities are now considering concrete actions to extend the mandate of the special anti-piracy task force, and to prosecute corporate piracy and the illegal loading of software by dealers onto computer hard drives. The Hong Kong public continues to become much more aware of the damage being sustained by its own industries, notably movies and toys, from pirates.

b. Telecommunications

Hong Kong continues to make substantial progress in opening its telecommunications market. Hong Kong's Telecommunications Authority (TA) recently issued (January 2000) five new licences for local fixed telecommunication network services using wireless networks and twelve licences for external fixed telecommunications services using satellites to and from Hong Kong. It also issued to Hong Kong Cable TV a licence to provide telecommunications services over its coaxial cable networks. Hong Kong also decided to liberalize submarine cables landing licences from January 2000 in an effort to attract more international capacity to Hong Kong. Local fixed network (wireline) telecommunications systems, however, remain to be liberalized.

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VI. Trade Enforcement Activities

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B. U.S. Trade Laws

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3. Special 301

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d. Implementation of Ongoing Initiatives

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1999 Special 301 Review Announcements

On February 19, 1999, the USTR announced the results of out-of-cycle reviews of Hong Kong, Ecuador, Colombia, and Vietnam. Hong Kong was removed from the Watch List in recognition of its efforts during the previous year to address piracy. However, in view of continuing high piracy rates, the USTR called upon Hong Kong to take significant new steps in the near future to address the problem. Ecuador was maintained on the Priority Watch List, and Colombia and Vietnam were maintained on the Watch List.

On April 30, 1999, USTR announced the results of the Special 301 annual review. USTR identified 57 trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable market access to United States artists and industries that rely upon intellectual property protection. Of the 57, 16 trading partners were placed on the Priority Watch List and 37 on the Watch List. Seven of these 57 were named for out-of-cycle reviews: Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, Colombia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Korea. In addition, USTR announced an out-of-cycle review to assess Malaysia's progress toward substantially reducing pirated optical media production and export, and an out-of-cycle review of Hong Kong to assess progress toward reducing piracy rates. Paraguay and China were designated for "Section 306 monitoring" to ensure that both countries comply with the commitments made to the United States under bilateral intellectual property agreements. Intensive monitoring continued in 1999 through regular bilateral consultations with both governments. Finally, USTR used the Special 301 report to announce initiation of WTO consultations with Argentina, Canada and the European Union, bringing to 13 the number of intellectual property-related WTO complaints filed by the United States since 1996.

On December 1, 1999, the USTR announced removal of South Africa from the Special 301 Watch List, based on a bilateral understanding developed with South Africa under which both Governments reaffirmed their shared objective of fully protecting intellectual property rights under the WTO TRIPS Agreement, while addressing the health issues identified by South Africa. South Africa agreed that it would address health needs in a manner that fully protects intellectual property rights. USTR took this action as a result of this understanding, as well as other steps South Africa had taken and was taking to improve further the protection of intellectual property.

On December 10, 1999, the USTR announced that Jordan was removed from the Watch List as the result of an out-of-cycle review. In actions related to its accession to the WTO, the Government of Jordan passed a number of strong intellectual property laws laying the legal foundation for an effective intellectual property regime consistent with the TRIPS Agreement. The Government of Jordan also demonstrated its determination to ensure effective enforcement of the laws comprising Jordan's improved regime for protection of intellectual property. In making the announcement, the USTR noted that implementation and enforcement will be important benchmarks for future reviews.

On December 17, 1999, the USTR announced results of out-of-cycle reviews of Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Colombia and the Czech Republic remained on the Watch List. Hong Kong and Malaysia remained off the list, but the USTR called upon Hong Kong to redouble its efforts to reduce piracy rates, and announced that USTR would continue to monitor Malaysia's progress toward substantially reducing pirated optical media production.

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