US Lifts Trade Sanctions On Ukraine

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

02 September 2005

In recognition of the efforts that the Ukrainian Government has made to improve its legislative framework to protect intellectual property rights, US Trade Representative Rob Portman on Wednesday announced the lifting of 100% tariff sanctions that since 2002 had been imposed on $75 million worth of Ukrainian exports to the United States.

The Office of the USTR decided to lift the sanctions following the adoption by the Ukrainian parliament in July 2005 of an important set of amendments to Ukraine’s Laser-Readable Disk Law. The amendments, which went into force on August 2, will strengthen Ukraine’s licensing regime and enforcement efforts to stem the illegal production and trade of CDs and DVDs.

"I commend Ukrainian President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko for their personal involvement in securing passage of these amendments, which is expected to improve Ukraine’s protection of intellectual property rights," Mr Portman stated, continuing:

"This recent legislative action by Ukraine is a key step in the right direction. We expect that Ukraine will use the tools created by these amendments to crack down on illegal pirating of protected works."

As a further step, the USTR's Office announced that it is conducting a Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) to focus on Ukraine’s IPR enforcement and consider Ukraine’s status as a Priority Foreign Country and its eligibility for Generalized System of Preferences benefits.

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