RECENT IPR ENFORCEMENT SUCCESSES IN MEXICO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 003322 SENSITIVE, SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE/HUGHES/URBAN STATE FOR WHA/MEX/GOMEZ STATE PASS TO USTR FOR MELLE/MCCOY/SHIGETOMI STATE PASS TO JUSTICE FOR CCIPS/KOUAME AND OPDAT/TRUEBELL STATE PASS TO COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/ONAFTA/WORD STATE PASS TO ITA/MAC/IPR/WILSON COMMERCE PASS TO USPTO FOR RODRIGUEZ/BERDUT/MORALES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON SNAR MX SUBJECT: RECENT IPR ENFORCEMENT SUCCESSES IN MEXICO Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Two recent successes in Mexican IPR enforcement efforts warrant highlighting in a front-channel cable. Mexican customs officials who attended a training program organized by the Embassy in Manzanillo in early September have since employed the detection techniques learned and have detained 30 containers of counterfeit goods at Mexico's port of Lazaro Cardenas. Separately, Mexico's FDA-equivalent agency led an unprecedented raid on a chain of pharmacies in Cancun, and shut down seven for distributing counterfeit pharmaceuticals and endangering the general public. Both these enforcement efforts are deserving of high praise and are encouraging signs of increased vigilance. However, more needs to be done to protect IPR in Mexico. We will continue our training and cooperative efforts so as to ensure additional successes. END SUMMARY. Training Nets Seizures in Lazaro Cardenas -------------- ¶2. (U) The Embassy, together with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Mexican Customs Administration (Aduanas),held a four-day training seminar in Manzanillo from September 8-11 for Mexican customs and law enforcement officials on criminal enforcement and detecting, detaining, and deterring the importation of pirated and counterfeit goods (see reftel). Two of the customs officials in attendance were from the southern Pacific Coast port of Lazaro Cardenas. Lazaro Cardenas is slightly smaller than Manzanillo, Mexico's largest port. In 2008, it handled 20 million tons of cargo, including more than half a million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs),or standard intermodal containers, mostly from China and elsewhere in Asia. ¶3. (SBU) The two officials took the fresh insights and valuable techniques they learned from our training program, and employed them in their customs duties in Lazaro Cardenas. They had the express permission of the customs director, who himself participated in a separate DOJ-sponsored training program in July, which afforded him a tour of the Port of Baltimore and the IPR Coordination Center in Washington, D.C., to sensitize him to the importance of intellectual property protection and enforcement as well as expose him to the potential in Mexico for increased efforts to combat intellectual property violations. ¶4. (SBU) The actions of these Lazaro Cardenas customs officials resulted in the detection and seizure of 20 TEUs - almost 300 tons - of counterfeit apparel and accessories bearing the marks of Prada, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Nike, Abercrombie, American Eagle, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Dior, Armani, Hollister, Ed Hardy, and many others - all in less than one month. According to Jaime Martinez, Aduanas Administrator of Operations, ten additional containers of counterfeit goods were detected in the same manner and seized late last week. All 30 TEUs originated in China. ¶5. (SBU) A grateful Martinez (another recipient of USG training) told EconOff he credits the USG-sponsored training for enabling his officers to make these historic seizures. He commented that these seizures have been so significant that the shipping company told Aduanas that those ships that had already left China bound for Lazaro Cardenas with similar containers are now making stops either to offload these containers or rerouting them to other ships. Central America, and not Mexico, was the final destination for almost all of the seized containers. COFEPRIS Initiates Unprecedented Enforcement Action -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In a separate event, the Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection of Sanitary Risks, or COFEPRIS (the Mexican FDA-equivalent),raided several Yza chain pharmacies in Cancun in early October and closed seven for distributing counterfeit Cialis and other medicines. The operation was done in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI - counterpart to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). Yza is a well-known pharmacy chain with over 100 stores in Quintana Roo, Campeche, and Yucatan. MEXICO 00003322 002 OF 002 As part of their compensation package, PEMEX employees in this region of Mexico receive coupons to purchase medicines from Yza. ¶7. (SBU) Cialis manufacturer Eli Lilly provided COFEPRIS with key information; according to their General Counsel, Eli Lilly began receiving reports almost a year ago from doctors in Quintana Roo whose patients were complaining that their prescribed medicine was not working. After tests of the medicine demonstrated it was indeed counterfeit, Eli Lilly built an airtight case and presented it to COFEPRIS. (Note: Under Mexican law, the authorities can pursue an IP violation only after receiving a complaint from the right-holder.) Eli Lilly found a receptive audience in Dr. Lucio Galileo Lastra Martn, the new COFEPRIS Commissioner for Sanitary Operations and a former PRI Congressman. Dr. Lastra took on the case, coordinated the Mexican interagency efforts, and launched a successful, unprecedented raid. COMMENTS -------------- ¶8. (SBU) This enforcement action reveals a big change within COFEPRIS; at the anti-counterfeit pharmaceuticals symposium sponsored by APEC and held in Mexico City last March, COFEPRIS General Commissioner Miguel Angel Toscano told the audience that counterfeit drugs were not a problem in Mexico. While the extent of the problem may be disputed, COFEPRIS now seems to recognize that counterfeit pharmaceuticals are indeed a public health hazard in Mexico and is actively working to combat it. Commissioner Toscano also participated in the same DOJ-sponsored tour of the IPR Coordination Center mentioned above. ¶9. (SBU) In both actions, the security of those involved was a paramount concern. Eli Lilly's General Counsel told EconOff that he and his colleagues feared repercussions from Mexico's criminal gangs if these organizations learned that Eli Lilly was behind the complaint. Therefore, Eli Lilly is very pleased at the effective manner in which COFEPRIS has obfuscated their participation. As for the customs operation, it was not too long ago that the customs director for the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz disappeared, ostensibly for detaining a shipment of illicit goods bound for one of Mexico's criminal organizations. Fortunately, Aduanas Administrator Martinez told EconOff that as Lazaro Cardenas was not the final destination for many of these TEU's, the cartels do not appear to be involved. So far, his officers have not been threatened. ¶10. (SBU) Both these enforcement efforts are commendable, and signal that Mexican authorities are increasingly capable of and willing to protect and enforce intellectual property rights. However, Mexico must do more to enhance its enforcement efforts. Mexico must devote greater resources to its enforcement agencies, it must improve its interagency coordination, and it must continue to build a consistent record of aggressive prosecutions and deterrent-level penalties imposed by courts. To these ends, we will continue our training and cooperative efforts. END COMMENT. PASCUAL