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Li, Xuan --- "WCO SECURE: Legal and Economic Assessments of the TRIPS-plus-plus IP Enforcement" [2009] ELECD 367; in Li, Xuan; Correa, M. Carlos (eds), "Intellectual Property Enforcement" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009)

Book Title: Intellectual Property Enforcement

Editor(s): Li, Xuan; Correa, M. Carlos

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848446526

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: WCO SECURE: Legal and Economic Assessments of the TRIPS-plus-plus IP Enforcement

Author(s): Li, Xuan

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

4. WCO SECURE: legal and
economic assessments of the
TRIPS-plus-plus IP enforcement
Xuan Li

INTRODUCTION

For many developed countries, one of the important strategies to
enhance and maximize their economic benefits is through formulation
of international IP standards, which may impede the development of
countries in the South. Following the footprint of the Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of
the World Trade Organization (WTO), one of the most profitable
deals for developed countries in international norm-setting exercise,
some developed countries are now pushing for TRIPS-plus standards
on IP enforcement as a new strategic priority. However, developed
countries have met well-founded resistance from the developing
countries in IP negotiations within the framework of the WTO and
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Given the
sticky situation in traditional negotiation forums to achieve their
TRIPS-plus IP enforcement initiatives, developed countries have
strategically shifted the battlefield to other international forums,
notably the World Customs Organization (WCO), which is relatively
unknown to the international community as a forum for setting IP
regulations and has actually no mandate to negotiate intellectual
property legislation. Under this forum-shopping strategy, the inten-
tion of the North is to break the situation through the back door, that
is, revise customs regulations with expansion of the authorities of
customs administrations, and re-delineate the boundary of customs
and other stakeholders. If the Provisional Standards Employed by
Customs for Uniform Rights Enforcement (SECURE) is allowed
to be adopted in ...