WTO Panel On Chinese Content Distribution Delayed

By William New
The formation of a World Trade Organization panel requested by the United States on China’s distribution of American copyrighted material was delayed this week after a procedural move on an unrelated matter.

The US panel request was to be considered by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on 19 November, but the agenda for the meeting was blocked by Taiwan in relation to its sovereignty dispute with China, according to sources. An informal meeting of heads of delegation was held on Friday to try to resolve the issue but at press time it had not been settled. It was unclear what the timeframe might be, according to a WTO source.

Taiwan blocked China’s appointment to the WTO Appellate Body by acting to remove the item from the agenda. A number of members, including the United States, Japan and European Union, said it should remain.

Chinese Ambassador to the WTO Sun Zhenyu issued a statement Friday arguing that the appointment has followed all proper procedures and urging a resumption of the meeting with the full agenda without further delay.

The US on 11 October requested a panel in the case, WT/DS363/5, alleging that laws and regulations in China hinder American firms from selling films, books, newspapers, magazines and CDs there and that this constitutes discrimination (IPW, US Policy, 11 October 2007).

In its case, the United States charges that China only allow Chinese state-designated enterprises to import such products into China, restricts foreign entities’ rights to distribute products, and may be contributing to piracy by preventing legitimate products from entering the market.

A panel was formed on 25 September in separate US-filed IP case against China, WT/DS362/7, in which it alleges China has failed to provide “criminal procedures and penalties to be applied in cases of wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale that fail to meet certain thresholds” (IPW, WTO/TRIPS, 27 September 2007).

William New may be reached at wnew@ip-watch.ch.