GOC NOTIFIED OF CANADA'S POSITION ON SPECIAL 301

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000328 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EEB/TPP/IPE STATE PASS USTR FOR MELLE, SULLIVAN, VETERE, AND MCCOY COMMERCE FOR JENNIFER BOGER AND SKIP JONES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR CA SUBJECT: GOC NOTIFIED OF CANADA'S POSITION ON SPECIAL 301 PRIORITY WATCH LIST REF: STATE 42915 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On April 30, Embassy officials notified GOC officials that Canada will be included on the Priority Watch List (PWL) in the 2009 Special 301 Report. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) officials stated that elevation to the PWL will make it more difficult for Canada to implement increased IPR protection. They did also say that Canada would continue to cooperate with the United States on IPR issues in international arenas. Officials from Industry Canada and Heritage Canada seemed less concerned about the decision and expressed hope that elevation to PWL might even help motivate the GOC to finally implement modern copyright law. End Summary. Reaction at DFAIT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) EconCouns delivered reftel points to Andrew Moroz, Acting Director General, North America Trade Policy Bureau, DFAIT. Moroz expressed thanks for the advance notice, but also deep disappointment at the decision. He stated that the GOC has clearly demonstrated a serious commitment to IPR protection. Moroz also said that this decision complicates Canada's ability to introduce and implement new IPR legislation. He reiterated commonly-voiced DFAIT complaints that the 301 process is "deeply flawed" and "not a real analysis." Moroz said that he anticipates questions from industry and media organizations, and feels that the GOC will need to share their thoughts on the process and take a harder tone than usual in responding to the questions. ¶3. (SBU) Moroz asked whether other countries had been added to or removed from the PWL. He also inquired whether there are any section 306 countries on the 2009 Special 301 Report. Nancy Segal, Acting Director, Intellectual Property, Information and Technology Trade Policy Division, DFAIT, complained that the measures requested of Canada in the Special 301 Report are a moving target. Although Canada has been on the Watch List for 14 years, the current issues are not the issues that were listed 14 years ago, according to Segal. She claimed that many of the older issues have already been addressed by Canada. Reaction at Heritage and Industry -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Economic Minister Counselor delivered reftel points to Ian Todd, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Heritage, and Econoff conveyed the message to Zoe Addington, Policy Director to the Minister of Industry. Both officials had a lower key reaction than their DFAIT colleagues. Todd said that he is disappointed that the copyright legislation did not progress more quickly over the past few months. He also expressed hope that elevation to PWL might help the GOC work with Parliament to make progress on introducing a new copyright bill. Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / BREESE