USERNAME: PASSWORD:
Tax-news.com favicon www.tax-news.com TAX-NEWS.COM
CONTACT | RECRUITMENT | ABOUT | LEGAL | LINKS     
   NETWORK SITES:
   LOWTAX   
   TAX-NEWS   
  PBTG  
  

Jurisdiction News Pages

Anguilla
Andorra
Aruba

Australia

Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Canada

Cayman Islands

Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dubai
Gibraltar
Grenada
Guernsey
Hong Kong
Ireland
Isle of Man
Jersey
Labuan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Madeira
Malta
Mauritius
Monaco
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Seychelles

South Africa

St. Kitts & Nevis
St Vincent & The Grenadines
Switzerland
Turks & Caicos Islands

UK

USA

Vanuatu

Newsletter

To receive monthly updates on new features in lowtax.net and tax-news.com just enter your e-mail address below:



Daily Tax Quote

New On The Lowtax Network Today

This feed is published daily with selected new or updated content from across the Lowtax Network. For a list of Lowtax Network sites, many of which feature daily news, see below.

 
TODAY 19/03: Lowtax Austria, major content expansion
18/03 New Lowtax Editor Column, by Kitty Miv
17/03 IO Focus: Hong Kong, Investors Offshore special feature
17/03 New PBTG Editor Column, Caroline, PBTG editor
16/03 Hungary Summary PBTG Guide, added to Personal Business Tax Guide
15/03 Lowtax South Africa, major content expansion
12/03 Lowtax Costa Rica, annual update
11/03 Estonia Summary PBTG Guide, added to Personal Business Tax Guide
10/03 Lowtax Labuan, annual update
05/03 Belgium Summary PBTG Guide, added to Personal Business Tax Guide
03/03 Personal Business Tax Guide, PBTG, has launched!
Providing essential tax news and information for globally mobile artists, contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses, sportspersons and entertainers.
02/03 Personal Equity Investment In 2010: Not Just For Expats…, Investors Offshore special feature
24/02 Lowtax Cyprus, annual update
22/02 Lowtax Brunei, annual update
15/02 Lowtax Australia, major content expansion
 

 
Lowtax Network Sites
Lowtax Portal: 'Low-tax' business and investment in the top 50 jurisdictions covered in exceptional detail.
Tax News: Global tax news, continuously updated through the day.
Investors Offshore: The independent offshore and alternative investment guide for expatriates and the globally aware investor.
Law & Tax News: Daily news and background data on tax and legal developments for international business.
Offshore-e-com: A topical guide to offshore e-commerce focused on tax and regulation.
Lowtax Library: One of the web's largest and most authoritative business and investment information sources.
US Tax Network: The resource for free online US taxation information, covering: corporate tax, individual tax, international tax, expatriates, sales and e-commerce tax, investment tax.
NEW! Personal Business Tax Guide: Providing essential tax news and information on business for contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses, artists, sportspersons and entertainers.
 

USTR Releases 2009 Special 301 IPR Report, by Mike Godfrey, for LawAndTax-News.com, Washington
Friday, May 01, 2009

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has released its annual “Special 301” Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection by US trading partners.

The USTR reviewed 77 trading partners for this year’s Special 301 Report. Of these, the USTR has placed 46 trading partners on the Priority Watch List, Watch List, or the Section 306 monitoring list. Trading partners on the Priority Watch List do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.

“Today’s Special 301 Report guides our efforts to protect American innovation and creativity around the world,” Ambassador Ron Kirk announced on April 30.

“Our creative and innovative products can hit the global marketplace sometimes with just a keystroke. If we and our trading partners are not vigilant in protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights, they can vanish just as quickly,” he added, continuing:

“As US right holders, businesses, and workers suffer losses from international piracy, counterfeiting, and other forms of IPR theft, the Special 301 Report provides a critical policy tool for focusing on urgent problems that undermine one of America’s great strengths in the global economy – our innovation and creativity.”

“In this time of economic uncertainty, we need to redouble our efforts to work with all of our trading partners – even our closest allies and neighbors such as Canada – to enhance protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the context of a rules-based trading system,” he explained.

Significant developments in this year’s Special 301 Report include the following:

  • Canada is being elevated to the Priority Watch List for the first time, reflecting increasing concern about the continuing need for copyright reform, as well as continuing concern about weak border enforcement.
  • The USTR is also elevating Algeria and Indonesia to the Priority Watch List, reflecting growing concern about the IPR situation in those countries.
  • Korea is being removed from the Watch List in recognition of the significant improvements it has made during the past year, and the Korean government’s policy direction of continuing to place a priority on improving its IPR regime. This marks the first time in the history of the report that Korea has not appeared on either the Watch List or the Priority Watch List. The USTR will, however, continue to monitor closely the ongoing problem of Internet piracy in Korea, and will be prepared to consider returning Korea to the Watch List in the future if it does not respond effectively to this challenge through its implementation of newly enacted legislation and other steps.

Again this year, the USTR’s Special 301 Report highlights the prominence of IPR concerns with respect to China and Russia, despite some evidence of improvement in both countries:

  • The USTR announced that it would maintain pressure on China by including it on the Priority Watch List. “I am particularly troubled by reports that Chinese officials are urging more lenient enforcement of IPR laws, motivated by the financial crisis and the need to maintain jobs,” Mr Kirk said, adding, “China needs to strengthen its approach to IPR protection and enforcement, not weaken it.”
  • The Administration also continues to seek improvements to the intellectual property regime in Russia. The United States is committed to ensuring that Russia fulfills the promises it made to improve its IPR protection and enforcement regimes as part of a bilateral agreement with the United States.

2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the Special 301 Report, which was first issued in 1989 in accordance with the provisions of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.

Other countries on this year’s Priority Watch List include Algeria, Argentina, Chile, India, Indonesia, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand, and Venezuela. Priority Watch List countries will be "the subject of particularly intense engagement through bilateral discussion during the coming year".

Thirty-three trading partners are on the lower level Watch List, "meriting bilateral attention to address the underlying IPR problems": Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Paraguay will continue to be monitored under Section 306 monitoring under a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding that establishes objectives and actions for addressing IPR concerns in that country.

Finally, the Administration announced that it will conduct Out-of-Cycle Reviews for Fiji, Israel, the Philippines, Poland, and Saudi Arabia to monitor progress on specific IPR issues.

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


THE LOWTAX LIBRARY

One of the web's largest and most authoritative business and investment information sources. Alongside topical, daily news on worldwide tax developments, you can receive weekly newswires or access up-to-date intelligence reports on a range of legal, tax and investment subjects.

FREE TRIAL NEWS SUBSCRIPTION

Our 16 constantly updated intelligence reports cover every important aspect of 'offshore' and international tax-planning in depth, including banking secrecy, the EU's savings tax directive, offshore funds, e-commerce, offshore gaming and transfer pricing. Reports are available for immediate downloading or as subscription services with news pages.

Advertising & Marketing

With over 50,000 qualified readers every month our web-sites offer a number of cost effective, targeted advertising, sponsorship and marketing opportunities:

Display advertising - from 'skyscrapers' to 'buttons'
Content/article submission and sponsorship
Opt-in email marketing
On-line Services Directory listings

Click here to learn more or contact Peter Wiggins on +44 1424 425933 or email him at peter@lowtax.net

News & Content Solutions

Could your corporate web-site or newsletter benefit from incorporating regularly updated news and content tailored to serve your clients' interests? We can provide a variety of maintenance-free news and content solutions that can be seamlessly integrated and dynamically delivered:

Customised, personalised 'own-brand' news services
Newsletter content and management
News Headlines Tickers

Click here to learn more or contact Peter Wiggins on +44 1424 425933 or email him at peter@lowtax.net

Free Tax-News Feed

Click here for a brief introduction to RSS and instructions on how to get the Tax-News feed.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE LOWTAX NETWORK has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials on this site copyright THE LOWTAX NETWORK 1999 to 2010. Contact us for further information.