The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Concerns over the Bahamas’ intellectual property rights regime should “have not impact at all” on its progress to full World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership, despite the US government once again criticising it for “lax enforcement”.

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, told Tribune Business yesterday that the US Trade Representative’s office was supportive of the intellectual property rights legislation the Government is pushing to strengthen its enforcement regime.

And while the Government, particularly the Attorney General’s Office, is reviewing feedback and suggested changes to the legislation from both the US and European Union (EU), Mr Pinder stressed that whatever was done would be “in the national interests of the Bahamas”.

However, the Bahamas’ intellectual property rights regime has come in for some unflattering attention once again in the US Trade Representative’s December 31, 2013, report on the Caribbean Basin initiative.

The Bahamas is one of the countries that benefits from this one-way trade preferences regime, but the US Trade Representative’s report noted the need for a major cultural change in Bahamian attitudes towards copyright and rights’ holders protection.

It said: “The Government of the Bahamas passed legislation on July 7, 2011, to strengthen its ability to enforce intellectual property rights. Parliament approved the Customs Management Bill, which contains measures allowing Customs to confiscate counterfeit goods at the border or to detain and dispose of them in the country.

“In September 2011, Bahamian government officials visited the Straw Market (an open-air forum for vendors to sell handicrafts and tourist items) to stress the importance of intellectual property rights and discourage the sale of counterfeit items.

“Nevertheless, enforcement remains lax and anecdotal evidence suggests that there is significant local trade in the buying and selling of pirated movies, songs and fabricated high-end purses. The Bahamian government has taken some steps to strengthen intellectual property rights (IPR) protection as part of its WTO accession process.”

Asked whether such weaknesses, and assessments, would affect the Bahamas’ accession to the WTO, given that intellectual property rights are a key part of any trading regime, Mr Pinder responded: “I don’t think there’s any impact at all.

“The technical feedback from the US Trade Representative has been very positive on intellectual property rights. They’ve been able to review the suite of legislation that we’re looking to advance, and are in agreement with the regime we’re looking to introduce.”

Mr Pinder said the compendium of intellectual property rights legislation had been tabled in the Senate for their first reading, and said it was possible some proposals from the US and EU might be incorporated in amendments advanced to Cabinet.

“That process is in its final stages,” he added.