When the U.S. invited Canada to join the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations last month, there was an agreed upon delay to allow it to complete a domestic approval process. As part of that delay, Canada was to be excluded from the negotiations during the approval period and bound by any […]
Cooperation in the Pacific Rim by Jakob Polacsek, World Economic Forum (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/48179628441
Digital Trade
UK MEP Calls for Revision of CETA to Remove ACTA Provisions
Nigel Farage, a UK Member of the European Parliament, has tabled a question to the European Commission that asks if it “will undertake a revision of the EU-Canada deal to remove all proposals similar to ACTA.” Farage says that CETA should be thoroughly revised to remove anything that would implement […]
Mexico Signs ACTA Amid Speculation It Was Price of TPP Admission
Despite a Mexican Senate recommendation not to do so, Mexico unexpectedly signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement yesterday. There is some speculation that signing the agreement was a U.S. condition for joining the Trans Pacific Partnership talks. The Mexican Senate must still ratify the agreement for it to take effect.
EC Says ACTA ISP Provisions Dropped from CETA, Yet Most of ACTA Likely Remains Intact
While the removal of the Internet provider provisions is a good step, the European Parliament’s overwhelming rejection of ACTA was the result of far more than just the Internet provider provisions. Indeed, there has been concern about digital locks, damages, criminal provisions, and border measures. All of those provisions also appeared in the February 2012 CETA draft and Clancy’s response suggest that most, if not all, remain there.
The decision to respond to the CETA concerns is undoubtedly the result of the enormous amount of attention the connection between ACTA and CETA have received in Europe over the past 48 hours. This includes:
The Inclusion of ACTA Within CETA: Why The Concern Is Warranted
Some have noted that since the leaked CETA IP chapter dates from February 2012, the concern is premature since the current EC position may change in light of the recent European Parliament vote to reject ACTA. According to this view, “it’s more than likely that the European Parliament will kill CETA just as (and because of) ACTA was killed last week.”
While a change to the IP chapter would be welcome (I argued it should be removed from CETA altogether), I think the concern is warranted for several reasons.
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