Signing Ceremony of the EU for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) (Outline) (original) (raw)
January 26, 2012
The ceremony for the European Union (EU) and its Member States to sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was held on January 26 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- (1) Representatives from the European Union (EU) and 22 Member States, attended the ceremony and signed the Agreement. The Member States which did not sign the Agreement are expected to do so on the completion of respective domestic procedures. (Note: 1)
(2) Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Keiro Kitagami, Parliamentary Secretary for Economy, Trade and Industry, attended the ceremony on behalf of Japan – the depositary of the Agreement. (Note: 2) - (1) In his opening remark, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nakano expressed his welcome for the signing on the Agreement by the EU and its Member States and stated that he was confident that this signing would create a further momentum towards early entry into the force and expansion of participation to the Agreement, and that Japan intended to cooperate with the EU and other ACTA Participants to reach out to other countries for this purpose.
(2) On behalf of the EU, His Excellency, Mr. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Japan, stated that ACTA, an initiative led by Japan, aims to improve enforcement mechanisms to help its members combat IPR infringement more effectively. This is an objective that the EU and its MS share with its trade partners
(Note 1: EU and its Member States that signed the Agreement at this ceremony are: the EU, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom)
(Note 2: Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States signed the ACTA on 1 Oct 2011.)