EU Body Rejects Counterfeiting Pact

In a key vote last on 21 June, the EU Committee on International Trade (INTA) officially recommended that the European Parliament (EP) reject the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The highly-anticipated result has cast further doubts over the ultimate approval of the treaty by the EU.

ACTA is a plurilateral trade pact seeking to strengthen global standards for the enforcement of intellectual property rights in order to combat counterfeiting and piracy. The deal’s opponents fear that some of the provisions contained in the final text, which go beyond the standards set by the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), could have a detrimental effect on access to medicines and freedoms in the digital environment.

INTA is the fifth EU committee to ask for the rejection of the pact. Within the past month, four other committees issued critical opinions of the treaty, arguing that the deal is incompatible with EU fundamental rights and could have negative impacts on business and on the health of people living in developing countries.