The U.S. appreciates the Russian Customs work towards protecting the intellectual property rights

The U.S. appreciates the Russian Customs work towards protecting the intellectual property rights, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Trade William Lash at the meeting with Leonid Lobzenko, first deputy chairman of the Russian State Customs Committee, in Moscow on July 14. Mr. Lobzenko briefed the U.S. delegations members on the Customs work following adoption of the new Customs Code pointing out that there had been no major problems for the past six months.

MOSCOW (PRWEB) July 18, 2004 -- The U.S. appreciates the Russian Customs work towards protecting the intellectual property rights, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Trade William Lash at the meeting with Leonid Lobzenko, first deputy chairman of the Russian State Customs Committee, in Moscow on July 14.

Mr. Lobzenko briefed the U.S. delegations members on the Customs work following adoption of the new Customs Code pointing out that there had been no major problems for the past six months.

The U.S. assistant secretary of commerce took special interest in the customs efforts in protecting the intellectual property. He stated that the U.S. side appreciated the Russian customs work in this area and in facilitating U.S. equipment import to Russian.

The Russian customs have started to exert more and more vigorous efforts to interdict counterfeits export focusing on protecting copyright and allied rights. The customs have received recommendations enabling them to detect pirate CDs and cassettes more reliably. As early as in the end of June, the customs authorities detected and destroyed a large counterfeit audio carriers consignment intended for shipment to Germany.
Besides, much attention is paid to protecting registered trademarks in Russia's territory. Currently, the Intellectual Property Articles Register maintained by the Russian State Customs Committee contains 122 trademarks, additional 250 being considered, says the press service of Russian State Customs Committee.

The parties discussed development of the Clear-Pack project, pointing out the programs success. The project covers providing early information on the goods shipped from the U.S. to reduce traffic delays and cargo storage costs.

Along with fighting counterfeit exports and imports, the Russian government is struggling against counterfeit production in Russia. The Main Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the Interior Ministry is organizing and coordinating the work. In 1999, a special division of the department was created to combat intellectual property violations. In 2003, similar divisions were set up in many subjects of the Russian Federation.

In 2003, the Russian law enforcement agencies discovered 500 underground factories, 3,500 criminal cases were launched and 20,500 people have been convicted of administrative violations.

As a result, the sale of pirated goods in 2003 decreased by 15% and the trend has continued in 2004. In the first six months of this year, 230 illegal factories were closed and 2,300 criminal cases were launched in connection with manufacturing and selling pirated goods. The law enforcement officers confiscated 750 million rubles, or $26 million, in pirated goods.

About 14,400 people were convicted of administrative violations.

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