In particular, the ICC recommended that G8 ministers commit the resources and political direction necessary for the Heiligendamm Process to work effectively against intellectual property theft, and facilitate innovation and economic development.

The Heiligendamm Process was established at last year’s G8 Summit in Germany to address the issues of product counterfeiting and copyright piracy.

“In many countries, the legislation is in place but not properly enforced,” explained ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban, continuing:

“A strong commitment to the Heiligendamm Process is indispensable to the ability of the G8 to contribute value to the resolution of counterfeiting and piracy.”

The Hokkaido Toyako Summit comes at a time when seven of the eight G8 governments are actively negotiating the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

In its letter to ministers backed by the member companies of ICC’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) initiative, the ICC also called for the G8 to support ACTA, which has the potential to set new, higher standards for national and international government action to deal with counterfeiting and piracy.

“The ACTA negotiations provide the first real opportunity in years to elevate standards for government performance in protecting against intellectual property theft. We would hope that one of the key outcomes of the Hokkaido Toyako Summit will be G8 support for an ACTA agreement. Governments around the world would then be able to create the right environment to curb this illegal activity that has a huge negative impact on the economy worldwide,” argued Mr Sebban.

The ICC revealed that it works closely with the G8 on a variety of topics, and announced last week, ahead of the Summit launch, that it would also be submitting a statement to the heads of state and government attending the G8 Summit from 7th-9th July on critical issues to world business, including: support for a climate change pact, agreement in the Doha Round, freedom of investment, and the aforementioned intellectual property protection issues.