The protection of intellectual property was one of the three
main aims of a recently-agreed deal to pool efforts in customs
matters. At the end of January the Commission and Japan signed the
Agreement on Co-operation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in
Customs Matters (CCMAA).
The first meeting under the agreement produced a commitment to
further cross border information sharing to try to beat piracy.
The European Commission was represented in negotiations by
Robert Verrue, director general of the Taxation and Customs Union.
Yukiyasu Aoyama, director general of Japan's Customs and Tariff
Bureau, represented Japan.
"They underlined that co-operation between the two authorities
is indispensable for the fight against infringement of intellectual
property rights and committed to enhance their measures through
effective information exchange," said a Commission statement.
The agreement is the result of a process which began in 1993 by
which the Commission began negotiating with all its main trading
partners. Japan is the last of those countries to negotiate this
customs agreement with the Commission.
According to the Commission the agreement provides "a legal
basis for the exchange of information and administrative assistance
between the contracting parties for the proper application of
Customs law and presents some benefits and modern co-operation
methods that involve a variety of enforcement techniques".
"Co-operation of customs authorities between the [Commission]
and Japan is vital, given the importance of our economic and trade
relations," said László Kovács, Commissioner responsible for
Taxation and Customs Union.
"Ensuring the security of the supply chain and facilitating
trade through the mutual recognition of security measures is of
great importance in this context. We are also interested in
developing concrete measures to promote the protection of
intellectual property rights worldwide," said Kovács.
