VZCZCXRO1539
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHC #6488 0501640
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191637Z FEB 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 7171
INFO RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8167
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO PRIORITY 8785
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE PRIORITY 4935
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 8688
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 8112
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 3195

UNCLAS STATE 016488 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD KIPR BR
SUBJECT: 2007 SPECIAL 301 BRAZIL OCR RESULTS 
 
REF: STATE 107819, BRAZILIA 2038, BRASILIA 130 
 
 
 
 
¶1.  The U.S. Government (USG) Special 301 Committee has concluded its 
deliberations regarding Brazil's status on the Special 301 list 
following the Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR).  The Office of the U.S. 
Trade Representative (USTR) notified the Brazilian Embassy in 
Washington on February 15 that Brazil has been maintained on the 
Special 301 Watch List (WL). Post has also notified Brazil's Ministry 
of External Relations on February 15.  This cable provides some 
background in the event that Post has further discussions with the 
Government of Brazil (GOB) on the OCR. 
 
BACKGROUND 
¶2. Each Spring USTR issues the Special 301 Report to identify 
countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual 
property rights (IPR) or deny fair and equitable market access to 
U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property (IP) protection.  The 
USG Special 301 Committee conducted an OCR for Brazil before the 
start of the regular 2008 annual review. 
 
¶3. The Spring 2007 decision to conduct an OCR for Brazil was intended 
to give Brazil additional time to make progress on IPR enforcement 
and patent and trademark processing and to clarify ambiguities with 
regard to its data protection regime.  The Special 301 Committee 
developed a number of elements to be pursued in the OCR, which were 
initially presented as an action plan to the GOB in August 2007.  The 
action plan also constituted the basis for day-long discussions with 
Brazilian officials held on January 15, 2008. 
 
ISSUES TO DISCUSS 
¶4. Special 301 results for Brazil:  If needed, we request that 
Embassy Brasilia raise the following in its discussion with host 
government officials. 
 
-- The USG has completed its IPR OCR and will be maintaining Brazil's 
WL position as we move into the normal 2008 review process.  The USG 
does not intend to make a public announcement since Brazil's status 
is not changing.  The USG does not object if the GOB wishes to do 
something publicly. 
 
-- The USG very much appreciates the seriousness with which Brazil 
approached our January 15 meeting, and the excellent presentations 
made by many ministries and agencies of your government. 
 
-- The USG continues to be impressed with Brazil's efforts with 
regard to IPR enforcement.  While we maintain ongoing concerns in 
some areas of IP policy, including patent processing and protection 
of data, we are prepared to continue working together on these 
through constructive dialogue. 
 
-- IP remains an important part of our overall trade relationship. 
We look forward to continuing a productive discussion of these issues 
at the upcoming Brazil Consultative Mechanism (BCM) meeting. 
RICE