12 August 2004

U.S. to Fund Six IPR Training Projects in Asia-Pacific, Americas, August 10, 2004

(Total of $2.5 million will go to overseas IPR training)

Following is the text of a press release issued by the State Department August 10 on six intellectual property rights protection training programs in the countries of Mexico, Paraguay, and Thailand, and in support of the Central America Regional Free Trade Agreement process, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations:
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
August 10, 2004

MEDIA NOTE

Intellectual Property Training Programs Funded

In an effort to promote the rule of law and the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) worldwide, the Department has approved six projects to conduct international training programs on intellectual property rights protection.

These projects are the first tranche of funding representing approximately half of a total of $2.5 million to be spent on IPR training to help protect intellectual property overseas. The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs selected the projects after conferring with industry, other Federal agencies, our overseas missions, and Congress. The second tranche of funding for the balance of the $2.5 million will be announced and obligated before the end of this fiscal year.

The first six projects are:

1) Paraguay: $320,000
Significant support, including training and technical assistance, to stand up key Paraguayan IPR enforcement units.

2) Thailand: $265,000
Support the Thai-U.S. Memorandum of Understanding by providing training and technical assistance for specialized Thai units fighting optical disk piracy, with a focus on Thai customs units.

3) Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum: $250,000
Support the APEC digital piracy initiative by training law enforcement officials in APEC Member Economies.

4) Association of South East Asian Nations: $220,000
ASEAN-wide regional training on optical media piracy and hard goods counterfeiting.

5) Mexico: $150,000
Training for Mexican law enforcement, including not only units in the capital, but also regional anti-piracy units in Monterey, Puebla and Guadalajara.

6) Central America Regional Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)-Plus: $110,000
Customs training assistance to support the CAFTA process, to include non-CAFTA nations Panama, Belize and the Dominican Republic.

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