European ACTA Document Leaks With New Details on Mexico Talks and Future Meetings
Michael Geist, University of Ottawa
February 17, 2010
A brief report
from the European Commission authored by Pedro Velasco Martins (an EU
negotiator) on the most recent round of ACTA negotiations in
Guadalajara, Mexico has leaked, providing new information on the
substance of the talks, how countries are addressing the transparency
concerns, and plans for future negotiations. The document (cover page, document)
notes that the Mexico talks were a "long meeting with detailed
technical discussions, which allowed progress, but parties not yet
ready for major concessions. Due to lack of time, internet discussions
could not be concluded."
Start first with plans for future talks.
Round 8 of the ACTA negotiations, which will be held in Wellington, New
Zealand, are apparently now scheduled for April 12 to 16th. Countries
plan a five-day round - the longest yet - with detailed discussions on
the Internet provisions, civil enforcement, border measures, and penal
provisions. Moreover, Round 9 will take place in Geneva, possibly
during the week of June 7th. This aggressive negotiation schedule -
three rounds of talks in six months - points to the pressure to
conclude ACTA in 2010.
Secondly, transparency.
The leaked document reveals that the summary document on ACTA is
currently being updated by Canada and Switzerland, with release likely
in March. The new document will deny rumours about iPod searching
border guards and mandatory three strikes policies. There is no
agreement about releasing the ACTA text, however (though more European
Union members states favour its release). New Zealand is considering a
stakeholder meeting during the next round in April as part of the
transparency effort.
Third, the substance
of the talks. The three main areas of substantive discussion were
civil enforcement, border measures (called customs by the EC), and the
Internet provisions. The Commission document states:
1. The civil enforcement chapter
was discussed very thoroughly. It was possible to agree additional
language, but when entering into the detail of the different mechanisms
(provisional measures, injunctions, calculation of damages) progress
became slow due to the different technical concepts of each legal
system.
2. The
customs chapter was discussed in detail for the first time in more than
one year. Good progress on items like exemptions for personal luggage
(a sensitive issue in the public opinion). EU proposing a more
organised and logical structure of the chapter, not always well
understood by others.
3.
The internet chapter was discussed for the first time on the basis of
comments provided by most parties to US proposal. The second half of
the text (technological protection measures) was not discussed due to
lack of time. Discussions still focus on clarification of different
technical concepts, therefore, there was not much progress in terms of
common text. US and EU agreed to make presentations of their own
systems at the next round, to clarify issues.
Leaving
aside the more personal comments (ie. others do not understand the
border measures chapter structure), the leaked document is precisely
what the negotiating countries should be providing to the public in the
absence of an actual text. Rather than the mundane meeting statement
that says nothing, this brief report includes far more detail on the
substance of the talks and the plans for the future.
