WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States Trade Representative`s office sent out letters to key American business establishments seeking feedback on China`s commitments to crack down on copyright piracy.
Deputy US Trade Representative Josette Shiner said in the letter that their views were crucial in Washington`s early 2005 review of China`s pledges to significantly reduce infringements.
The pledges were made at a bilateral forum last April.
"We are really trying to get a comprehensive, systemic baseline that will help us understand the level of infringements," Shiner told a news conference.
The USTR office is roping in, among other business groups, the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Motion Pictures Association of America and the Business Software Alliance to help gather feedback from businesses cutting across wide ranging sectors.
She said protecting intellectual property rights was "certainly our number one concern" in trade with China.
Foreign companies and governments are becoming increasingly frustrated with the continuing problems of piracy and counterfeiting in China, which leads to billions of dollars of losses each year.
The US estimates the value of counterfeit goods in China at 19 billion to 24 billion dollars annually.
In April, China pledged at a Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting in Washington to address by the end of 2004 a number of areas that would all lead to a significant reduction of IPR infringement levels, Shiner said.
"They included a list we had honed over many months with various US stakeholders, including small and medium industries and copyright industries, to really determine what areas they felt needed the most immediate improvement," she said.
China`s commitments included increasing penalties for IPR violations, applying criminal sanctions to the import and export and storage and distribution of pirated and counterfeit products, and applying criminal sanctions to online piracy.
Shiner said that "the deterrant effect of enforcement is absolutely critical and if the threshold is not high enough, it would not deter the activity."
Asked whether she was satisfied with China`s efforts so far, she said: "We need to see those numbers come down."
The early 2005 review was part of a formal program set by Congress to assess compliance of IPR and other trade issues among America`s trading partners.
China announced this month it was launching a far-reaching, year-long campaign to strengthen law enforcement and tighten up on punishment of rampant IPR violations.