I wish to inform the Deputy that the staff at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation are aware of the United States of America special report 301, which is an annual review of the global state of intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, conducted by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
As the Deputy is aware, counterfeiting and piracy are now serious problems which undermine legitimate trade and the sustainable development of the world economy. The growth of illegal trade requires international cooperation regarding tackling this serious development.
The Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is also fully aware of the current trends in the infringement of intellectual property rights and to that end is currently involved in a number of initiatives to strengthen intellectual property rights protection and enforcement, both at EU level and international level.
The Department participates in the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights and is currently involved in a number of EU legislative proposals in this area such as:
the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on entrusting the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) with tasks related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights, including the assembling of public and private sector representatives as a European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights;
the review of the Enforcement Directive 2004/48/EC; and
the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning customs enforcement of intellectual property rights.