Post Tagged with: "ratification"

Pete Souza [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Trouble With the TPP, Day 48: U.S. Reserves Right to “Certify” Canada’s TPP Implementation

The Trouble with the TPP series has focused on dozens of problematic provisions within the trade agreement and identified several implementation possibilities that might limit some of the harm. For example, the post on copyright term extension discussed how Canada could require copyright registration and notification of the extended term in order to qualify for further protection. Copyright registration would not eliminate all the harm to the public domain, but it would mean that only those that desire the extension would take the positive steps to get it, thereby reducing the costs of the TPP’s unnecessary copyright term extension.

Should Canada move toward ratification of the TPP, there is a concern that attempts to mitigate the harm of some provisions will face opposition from the U.S. While implementation flexibility is the goal of every negotiator, the U.S. reserves the right to “certify” whether other TPP countries have, in its view, properly implemented the agreement.

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March 10, 2016 Comments are Disabled News
Reunión-almuerzo con Líderes de APEC que forman parte del TPP by Gobierno de Chile (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/Bc8mWf

Signing vs. Ratifying: Unpacking the Canadian Government Position on the TPP

The official release of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a global trade agreement between 12 countries including Canada, the United States, and Japan, has generated considerable confusion over where the Trudeau government stands on the deal. The TPP was concluded several weeks before the October election and the Liberals were careful to express general support for free trade, but refrain from embracing an agreement that was still secret.

Over the past month, there have been mixed signals over the issue. Chrystia Freeland, the new Minister of International Trade, has committed to a public consultation and noted that her government is not bound by commitments made by the Conservatives (in the interests of full disclosure, I had the opportunity to meet with Minister Freeland to discuss the TPP earlier this month). Yet following a meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Barack Obama at the APEC conference in Manila, Obama indicated that he expects Canada to soon be a signatory to the deal.

How to explain the seemingly inconsistent comments on the Canadian position on the TPP? The answer may well lie in the differences between reaching an agreement-in-principle, signing the formal text, and ratifying the deal.  Each step is distinct and carries different legal obligations.

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November 24, 2015 8 comments News

Canada Moves Forward With WIPO Internet Treaty Ratification But It Likely Won’t Be Final Until 2014

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore tabled  the WIPO Internet Treaties (the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty) earlier this week in the House of Commons, starting the process of Canadian ratification of the treaties. The move does not come as a surprise since Bill C-11, which received royal assent just over one year ago, was designed to bring ensure Canadian law conformed to the treaty requirements.

While there were some suggestions that the next step is formal notification with WIPO in Geneva, there are actually several steps required in Canada that will likely mean the treaties won’t be in force in Canada until early 2014 (I wrote about the treaty ratification process  in 2008). First, the treaties are subject to a waiting period of 21 sitting days. During that period, MPs may debate the treaties in the House, raise questions, or bring motions related to the treaty. The 21 sitting day period started on June 12th. Since the House is scheduled to break for the summer next week, the period will not be completed until the first week of October.  Once this process is completed, the Minister of Foreign Affairs may then seek legal authority, through an Order in Council, for Canada to prepare instruments of ratification of the two treaties. Once the instruments of ratification are deposited with WIPO, there is a further three month delay from the date of deposit.

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June 14, 2013 3 comments News

Reports Indicate Japan Ratifies ACTA

Reports indicate that Japan has ratified the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Japan had positioned itself as a leading proponent of the treaty, hosting the final round of negotiations and the official signing a year later.

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September 6, 2012 3 comments News

“Slightly Divided We Stand”: The EU Ratification of the WIPO Treaties

The At last … the 1709 Copyright Blog points to the details of the EU ratification of the WIPO Internet treaties and the fact that a number of countries opted out of elements of those treaties by way of declaration.

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January 7, 2010 1 comment News