The United States Trade Representative and the White House have reached agreement with Colombia on a trade deal that would in part strengthen IP protection and enforcement.
The two countries struck a deal yesterday on labour rights that should ensure approval of the agreement by Congress. Although signed in 2006, US Democrats have blocked the deal due to concerns over abuse of workers in Colombia.
The agreement would impose requirements for protecting copyrighted works from online piracy; create stronger criminal penalties against copyright piracy and trade mark counterfeiting; provide patent and test data protection conforming with the Doha Declaration on TRIPs and Public Health; and require “state-of-the-art” protection for US trade marks.
US Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Thomas Donohue urged quick approval of the agreement in light of the deal. “We can’t afford further delay,” he said.
According to the White House, the US-Colombia Trade Agreement will expand US goods exports alone by more than $1.1 billion, increase US GDP by $2.5 billion and support thousands of additional US jobs.