see also: in May 2007 News Releases:   Agriculture Inspection, User Fee Requirements Begin June 1 for Commercial Trucks, Railroad Cars Entering U.S. From Canada   Customs and Border Protection starts 2007 Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act Cycle   New Mexico Border Patrol Seizes Nearly $1.5 Million in Marijuana   Suspected Child Molester, FBI Top 10 Fugitive Turned Over to Buffalo Customs and Border Protection   Jayson P. Ahern Announced as Next CBP Deputy Commissioner   CBP Border Patrol Continues Recruiting With Help of Car #28   Electronic Manifest Filing Now Mandatory in Michigan and New York ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers on the web:   State Department Web Site

contacts for this news release

Washington – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner W. Ralph Basham and Mu Xinsheng, Minister of Customs for the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, signed an agreement yesterday to strengthen enforcement of intellectual property rights laws.

The agreement provides for exchanges of seizure information on counterfeit goods between customs staff of the two nations designed to improve intellectual property rights enforcement. CBP and China Customs have pledged to increase visits to each other’s offices and ports by both policy and operational staff engaged in intellectual property rights enforcement.

This agreement was reached coinciding with the second meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, a meeting with Chinese officials and leaders of multiple federal agencies to review economic development. Presidents Bush and President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China launched the dialogue on these matters in September 2006.

"I am very pleased that CBP will have the opportunity to work hand in hand with China Customs in combating illegal trade in counterfeit and pirated goods,” said CBP Commissioner W. Ralph Basham. “This memorandum of cooperation on intellectual property rights, which will benefit both our economies, represents an important step in working with China Customs to target counterfeit and pirated goods. I appreciate Minister Mu's strong support of this important work and look forward to working closely with him on this endeavor."

The memorandum calls for an increase in the sharing of intellectual property rights enforcement practices between CBP and China Customs. Intellectual property rights laws protect owners of such items as copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets from the unauthorized use of their brands or original works.

Officials have agreed to exchange information on significant intellectual property rights seizures each quarter in order to track violators and conduct enforcement actions. The country receiving information will have 90 days to report to the providing country on enforcement actions resulting from this disclosure of information.

U.S. and Chinese Customs officials have pledged to exchange counterfeit and pirated goods seizure statistics every six months for goods originating in or destined for the other country. The statistics exchange will describe the number of seizures, quantity and value of goods, description and/or Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification of the commodities, mode of transportation and the main ports of import and export for the goods in the two countries.

Yesterday’s agreement follows an increase of intellectual property rights seizures for the fiscal year 2006. CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, two agencies of the Department of Homeland Security, made 14,675 seizures of counterfeit goods worth more than $155 million in domestic value in fiscal year 2006. This represents an 83 percent increase in the number of seizures from fiscal year 2005 and a 67 percent increase in the value of those seizures for the same period.

As the primary agency responsible for U.S. border enforcement, CBP is a key player in intellectual property rights enforcement. To combat intellectual property rights theft, CBP has diversified its enforcement to include new approaches that complement traditional techniques focused on identifying and seizing counterfeit and pirated goods at U.S. borders. The agency has developed innovative methods such as risk modeling to identify high-risk shipments for border inspection, and expanded its efforts beyond border seizures by conducting intellectual property rights audits of importers. In addition, CBP works with trademark and copyright owners to protect intellectual property rights at the border, and with foreign governments and international organizations to enhance customs enforcement internationally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.