VZCZCXRO1677
PP RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #0337/01 0510830
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 200830Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7224
INFO RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2173
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 8362
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2323
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 4485
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR JAMES SANFORD, JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, 
PAUL BUCKHEAD, STAN MCCOY 
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN, CANDY 
GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER 
DOC PASS FOR USPTO 
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY 
DHS PASS ICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD IT KIPR LAB PGOV
SUBJECT: ITALIAN UNION ENDORSES IPR PROTECTION 
 
REF: A. 06 ROME 3334 
     ¶B. 06 ROME 2428 
     ¶C. 06 ROME 1858 
     ¶D. 05 ROME 4046 
     ¶E. 05 ROME 1569 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) CGIL (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro), 
Italy's largest and furthest-left-leaning union 
confederation, hosted a roundtable conference on combating 
counterfeiting and protecting Intellectual Property Rights 
(IPR) January 23 in Naples.  Perhaps the first large public 
pro-IPR union event, the conference featured a broad spectrum 
of panelists discussing IPR in Italy. The CGIL program's 
organizer stated that her attendance at Mission Italy's IPR 
conference in November 2006 had directly influenced this 
roundtable.  Most notably, in his closing remarks, the 
Secretary General of CGIL explicitly called for effective law 
 
SIPDIS 
enforcement to deter to IPR violations in Italy.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------- 
NEW UNION AWARENESS 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) With over 5.5 million members in fields as diverse as 
textiles and aviation, CGIL has traditionally been an 
influential voice on the left of the Italian political 
continuum. Further, until recently, Italian unions had 
considered IPR protection as necessary just to protect 
corporate profits.  However, Chinese competition for 
manufacturing jobs, and a rising awareness of IPR as the 
basis for continued economic growth (and therefore jobs) in 
western knowledge-based societies, has heightened union 
sensitivity.  By sponsoring this event, the union signals 
that a large and important sector of Italian society has a 
new and keen interest in IPR. 
 
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INFLUENTIAL PANELISTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) High-level speakers included Minister of Labor Cesare 
Damiano; Confindustria Vice President (Italian large-industry 
association) Alberto Bombassei; Naples (governmental) Region 
President Antonio Bassolino; Vice President of the National 
Association of Chinese Textile Companies Xu Kunyan; President 
of Italian Fashion Industry Association SMI-ATI Paolo Zegna; 
and Secretary General of CGIL Gugliemo Epifani.  This 
cross-section of senior officials from national and foreign 
organizations indicates CGIL's recognition of IPR's impact on 
many sectors in the Italian economy. 
 
---------------------------------- 
MISSION OUTREACH TO UNIONS ON IPR 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Valeria Fedeli, the organizer of the IPR 
roundtable, is Secretary General of FILTEA (CGIL's fashion 
and textile manufacturing arm).   Corriere della Sera cited 
Fedeli last month as one of Italy's most influential women; 
she is known for looking beyond traditional union positions 
to craft successful compromises with employers.  ECMIN met 
with her in December 2006 to discuss possible areas of 
cooperation on IPR between CGIL and USG.  At the meeting she 
agreed with ECMIN that highly-developed, knowledge-based 
economies, such as those in western Europe and the United 
States, can no longer depend on industrial production for 
economic growth and new jobs.  She also said that attending 
Mission Italy's "Building a Culture of IPR Legality" in 
November 2006 influenced her as she developed CGIL's IPR 
event. 
 
¶5.  (U) In her presentation at the conference, Fedeli 
 
ROME 00000337  002 OF 002 
 
 
comprehensively reviewed the challenge piracy and 
counterfeiting pose to Italy, emphasizing their social and 
economic costs.  She calculated damage to the Italian economy 
at 4-7 billion Euros per year, and a loss of as many as 
40,000 legal jobs over the past ten years.  In her 
estimation, tax evasion by pirates/counterfeiters in Italy 
amounts to eight percent of total tax revenues. Further, she 
noted that businesses and consumers suffer, as pirated 
products damage brand image; entrepreneurs reduce investment 
in innovation, research, and new product development in 
Italy; and low quality and potentially hazardous fakes 
threaten consumer safety. 
 
¶6.  (U) Fedeli also said in her remarks that the Italian 
government and Italian citizens do not understand IPR and its 
economic and social implications.  For this reason, she 
called for a widespread public sensitization campaign, 
greater transparency by legal retailers who may sell fakes 
alongside legitimate products, and revitalized enforcement to 
prosecute and sentence IPR offenders.   (COMMENT:  Many of 
her prescriptions echo those post has made in our public 
outreach.  END COMMENT). 
 
---------------------------- 
SENIOR UNION SUPPORT FOR IPR 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) The other speakers elaborated on her comments. 
However,CGIL Secretary General Epifani provided the day's 
most intriguing remark:  while one can sympathize with the 
plight of poor immigrants selling counterfeit goods on 
streets, one cannot tolerate the illegality of counterfeiting 
in any of its manifestations, and one must counteract them 
effectively.  (COMMENT:  Epifani's support for vigorous 
enforcement of IPR laws is unprecedented for a senior union 
leader and an avowed leftist.  END COMMENT). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8.  (U) Fedeli's participation and vocal support for 
effective action against piracy at our IPR conference in 
November was a first step to developing a successful 
anti-piracy collaboration with unions.  However, the CGIL 
roundtable confirmed that unions as a whole are coming to 
realize IPR violations menace the legal labor market and that 
unions realize they must join the efforts to combat piracy 
and counterfeiting.  Epifani's coup de theatre (see para 7 
above) is an important turning point in building society-wide 
consensus to support effective IPR protection in Italy. 
Embassy will continue to engage CGIL and other unions to 
build on the momentum this large union roundtable gives to 
our efforts.  END COMMENT. 
SPOGLI