The director of the Oficina Nacional de Derecho Autor (national copyright office), Pedro Felix Montes de Oca and District Attorney Francisco Domínguez Brito will participate in the public hearing of the SGP subcommittee that is chaired by the US Trade Representative. The hearing will determine whether in due process unilateral sanctions regarding General System of Preferences and CBI duty free preferences should be levied onto the DR for violation of intellectual property rights. The DR has priority watch list status regarding intellectual property violations. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is the most active at present in presenting charges of violations of intellectual property rights. William Malamud, of the American Chamber of Commerce says that the gripe is not against Dominican companies that manufacture generic drugs whose patents have expired, but against "the Argentinean connection," or Argentinean companies that have set up operation in the DR. US pharmaceuticals allege these seek to use the DR as an export platform to Central America and the Caribbean, taking advantage of free trade agreements the DR has signed with these regions. He explained that Pharma is moving against the DR and not Argentina from where the alleged pirated active ingredients are exported because "it has more leverage over the DR than Argentina." The DR benefits from US$44 million tax deductions under GSP and US$1,200 million under CBI. Malamud explains that of 8,000 pharmaceutical (most products sold here have a generic counterpart) products, only 50 are under patent dispute, several manufactured by the Argentinean connection. The position is that the Executive Branch original bill was modified in Congress to accommodate the interests of the Argentinean local lobby and not those of the US lobby. The bill is pending approval by President Leonel Fernández. The DR defense will have 15 minutes to present its case, versus 45 minutes allotted to those who accuse the DR of violations. The DR bases its defense on major progress made to combat intellectual property copyright violations in the DR. These include the massive destruction of pirated movie videos which has resulted in the closing down of video stores that sold pirated copies. Likewise, the District Attorney has worked hard and anti-software illegal raids have been carried out. The District Attorney’s office has worked closely with the Software Business Alliance channeling grievances through the local justice system. Major strides have also been taken in the updating of Dominican laws and improvement of Dominican justice. The new Intellectual Property Bill was also expected to be a step forward in regulating intellectual property rights. The DR defense says that the US Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association is presenting a distorted view of the actual situation. Sectors in the DR ask why the US Pharmaceutical Association has not channeled their grievances against individual violators through the justice system, such as the Software Business Alliance has done in the DR with much success and cooperation from local authorities, such as the District Attorney’s office. Other Dominican government representatives at this meeting are Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Angel Canó and Rodolfo Espiñeira, director of the department of industrial and commercial registrations. Dominican ambassador before the World Trade Organization, Federico Cuello recently traveled to the DR to consult with the Dominican government on the nation’s position at the hearing. Cuello has been emphatic about the validity of the new bill now under dispute. The public hearing has been requested by the International Alliance for the Defense of Intellectual Property to the Department of Commerce of the United States will take place in the Conference Center of the White House. The government contracted the law firm Johnson, Rogers & Clifton to assist the Dominican delegation.
