Cablegate: Taiwan Customs Meeting Nintendo's Concerns On Ems
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
070048Z Mar 05
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000936
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/RSP/TC, STATE PASS AIT/W AND USTR, USTR FOR
KI AND FREEMAN, DOC PASS USPTO AND LOC FOR STEPP
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON KIPR TW IPR
SUBJECT: TAIWAN CUSTOMS MEETING NINTENDO'S CONCERNS ON EMS
REF: 04 TAIPEI 4066
1. Summary: AIT met with Taiwan Customs and representatives
of Nintendo to discuss measures designed to replace the
recently abolished Export Monitoring System (EMS). Nintendo,
through the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Special
301 submission, had expressed concern that Taiwan Customs was
unprepared to assume the responsibility for checking
counterfeit game software and hardware. Nintendo expressed
particular concern that Taiwan Customs had declined to
receive testing equipment previously used in conjunction with
EMS to determine the legitimacy of exported products.
Customs has agreed to work with Nintendo to hold a training
session at the end of March to ensure all Customs inspectors
are aware of their new responsibilities and Nintendo will
provide eight new handheld testing devices for use by Taiwan
Customs officials. End Summary.
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Abolishing the EMS: Background
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2. In an attempt to direct resources where they could be the
most effective, Taiwan decided early in 2004 to abolish the
EMS and transfer its USD 1 million budget to support other
intellectual property enforcement activities, potentially
including increasing the number of personnel attached to
special investigation task forces and the establishment of a
cyber-crime center. According to the Taiwan Intellectual
Property Office (TIPO), the EMS had uncovered one case of
counterfeit products since 2001. The ESA, and especially
Nintendo, expressed concern that Taiwan Customs officials
lacked experience and would be reluctant to make the concerns
of the entertainment software industry a priority. The EMS
was officially abolished as of December 31, 2004.
3. At a November meeting held under the Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA), Taiwan officials announced that
training of Customs officials had already begun and would
continue into 2005. One such training meeting in December
2004, attended by AIT, was given mixed reviews by industry
association representatives. Representatives of the Business
Software Association felt it addressed their concerns, ESA
did not agree, noting that most of those present were senior
officials, not staff charged with the new responsibilities.
Comments from Nintendo to USTR in preparation for the annual
Special 301 review highlighted their concern that the new
system required rightsholders to spend time and money to
reregister their copyrighted materials, Customs refusal to
accept equipment previously used under the EMS program to
test for counterfeit products, new requirements that company
representatives file a complaint within a few hours of being
notified of discovery of a potential copyright or trademark
violation, and the lack of experience of Customs officials in
carrying out inspections for counterfeit games and software.
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Taiwan Customs Addressing Industry Concerns
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4. AIT met March 3 with Stella Liu, Director of
International Programs, Taiwan Customs and Huang Tzu-tien
from Shay and Partners, Nintendo,s representative in Taiwan
to discuss ways in which Taiwan Customs could address the
concerns raised by Nintendo. Shay and Partners and Taiwan
Customs reported that they had met March 2 to find ways to
resolve these issues. At that meeting, Customs agreed to
organize a training seminar before the end of March for all
staff level Customs officers at which Nintendo would have the
opportunity to demonstrate how to recognize counterfeit
products. In addition, Nintendo training will be made
available to Customs officials as needed.
5. Taiwan Customs continued to refuse to accept delivery of
the testing equipment formerly used with the EMS program,
complaining that it was too large, too technical, and
outdated. Instead, Nintendo agreed to provide eight new
hand-held testing devices and training on their use to detect
counterfeit products. These hand held devices will be
distributed to Customs officials around Taiwan.
6. Taiwan Customs acknowledged that the abolishment of the
EMS meant that manufacturers needed to reregister their
products with Customs and regretted that incompatible
databases made it impossible for them to simply import the
EMS data. However, she noted that Customs did not charge
rightsholders to conduct inspections. Conversely, EMS
inspections had always been fee based. Nintendo,s
representative agreed that these measures were positive steps
to address industry concerns.
PAAL