The threat of removing Generalized System of Preferences and CBI benefits for Dominican exports no longer looms over the DR. According to a report in the Listin Diario, the president of the subcommittee told representatives of the US Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (Pharma that presented their claim at a 12 May Washington hearing that their claim was out of place. The meeting concluded with a rejection of Pharma’s request for penalizing the DR with the removal of GSP and CBI benefits due to the country’s notable advances in the protection of intellectual property rights. The committee’s chairman, Robert Johnson had praise for the successful business by business searches the district attorney’s office had carried out to detect illegal software use, something he said is not done in the US. Jaime Angeles, a local lawyer who has been probably the most active in promoting intellectual property rights of foreign companies, commented in a local newspaper article that the pharmaceutical companies should take their requests to the World Trade Organization. He said that the WTO could rule to request that the Dominican government adopt special dispositions that would complement the intellectual property law passed by the Congress and still pending for the signing by President Fernandez. Angeles was incidental in spurring the Dominican government to action to protect software copyrights, which resulted in the District Attorney carrying out blitzes on companies to encourage these to regularize their use of software. Consequently, the use of pirated software has considerably diminished among large companies in the DR. Ambassador Roberto Salad?n, District Attorney Francisco Dom?nguez Brito, Deputy Minister Angel Can?, and director of the local copyright office, Pedro Feliz, sustained the Dominican position at the US hearing. It was also supported by the DR’s WTO ambassador, Federico Cuello.
