. /.RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/ACC/UKR/58
28 May 1999
(99-2141)
Working Party on the
Accession of UkraineOriginal:  English
ACCESSION OF UKRAINE
Note to Delegations from the Chairman
The Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of Ukraine has submitted the following
Note to Delegations.
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April 23-24, 1999 Kiev Symposium on Protecti on of Intellectual Property Rights
On 23-24 April 1999 an important symposium on the protection of intellectual property rights
was held in Kiev, Ukraine, with a view to discussing recent developments in Ukrainian legislation,
policy and practice in this area as well as additional steps which will be necessary to bring Ukraineinto full compliance with what will be the country’s obligations upon accession to the WTO.  In my
capacity as Chairman of the Working Party on the Accession of Ukraine to the WTO, I was invited to
participate in the programme and took advantage of this opportunity to discuss with other symposium
participants TRIPS-related points which had been raised by WTO Members in the course of the
Working Party meetings.  Participants at the symposium were drawn from Ukraine’s Supreme Rada,
the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, the State Committee on Science and
Intellectual Property, the Ministry for Culture and Arts, the Ministry of Interior (Enforcement), andthe former Ukrainian Patent and Copyright Offices.  In addition, a variety of outside experts from the
private sector played an important role in the meetings.  The symposium was organized by the
Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs,  the Authors’ Legal Partnership and the Union of
Lawyers of Ukraine and was supported by several Ukrainian state agencies and the U.S. Department
of Commerce Commercial Law Development Program.
In the course of the meetings, participants were informed that the Ukrainian authorities
expected to be in a position within the next two months to accede to the Geneva Convention for the
Protection of Producers of Phonograms now that the Supreme Rada’s Committee on Science and
Intellectual Property had approved (on 21 April 1999) Ukraine’s joining the Convention.   In addition,it was reported that a draft law is now under consideration relative to Ukraine’s joining the Rome
Convention and work is underway on legislation to revise the terms of Ukraine’s participation in the
Berne Convention.  The recent publication of th e Uruguay Round Agreements, including the TRIPS
Agreement,  in the Ukrainian language was credited with helping to inform both politicians and the
general public on changes which will need to be made in Ukraine’s current legal environment prior toWTO Membership.
A significant portion of the symposium was devoted to a discussion of the severe copyright
piracy problem in Ukraine.  The seriousness of the problem was recognized by Ukrainian law
enforcement officials as well as private sector copyright holders and cultural authorities.  It was
generally accepted by all those present that urgent ac tion is called for to revise enforcement statutes
and increase criminal and civil penalties for piracy.   Members of the Supreme Rada at the symposiumWT/ACC/UKR/58
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who will need to legislate appropriate changes were cognizant of the problem and discussed those
elements of the law which would need revisions.  In addition, participants considered that there is a
need to revise and improve border measures related to protection of intellectual property rights.
Overall, the symposium made an important contribution toward deepening awareness of the
current state of intellectual property protection in Ukraine and additional steps which will be needed
to bring the country into full compliance with the TRIPS obligations it will need to honour upon
accession to the WTO.  The progress made at the 23-24 April 1999 symposium will hopefully be
supplemented by an upcoming 26 May 1999 TACIS-sponsored seminar on copyright protection
techniques.
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