VZCZCXRO7404
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHAK #1630/01 3171422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131422Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1211
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 6505
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 4269
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001630 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SE, EEB/TPP/IPE, INL/C-CP 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USPTO FOR JOELLEN URBAN, MICHAEL SMITH 
DEPT PLEASE PASS USTR FOR MARK MOWREY, JENNIFER CHOE GROVES 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC CHERIE RUSNAK, HILLEARY SMITH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV KCRM KIPR TU
SUBJECT: IPR TRAINING FOR TURKISH CUSTOMS: LESSONS LEARNED 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 735 
     ¶B. ANKARA 702 
 
ANKARA 00001630  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
 ¶1. Summary.  Between May 2008 and September 2009, Post 
provided six sessions of training for Turkish Customs on how 
to recognize and seize counterfeit products, working with the 
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Customs and 
Border Protection (CBP) on an INL-funded program.  In total, 
we trained 227 Turkish law enforcement officials in these 
sessions.  As our budget progressively shrank, we were forced 
to find creative ways to stretch our training dollars, 
resulting in three different training models.  This cable 
presents the pros and cons of each model and the lessons 
learned.  Finding effective local partners within the 
business community can dramatically cut costs, as can 
partnership with missions from other countries.  While 
bringing managers from different Customs posts to a central 
location helps spread the message at a certain key level, it 
is also possible to take the show on the road and reach out 
to the actual line officers without adding substantially to 
the cost of training.  Hands-on training from the actual 
rights holders presents a more memorable experience for the 
recipients of training, and also helps rights holders 
establish useful contacts with front-line inspectors.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. Using an INL grant of USD 47,595 for intellectual property 
rights (IPR) training for Turkish Customs, Post coordinated 
with the USPTO and CBP to provide six training sessions on 
counterfeit goods recognition over a period of 16 months.  As 
the budget grew progressively smaller, we tried out various 
(progressively cheaper) training models.  As each set of 
trainings took a different approach, this cable examines the 
pros and cons of each. 
 
Bringing Mehmet to the Mountain: Centralized Training 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. The first training program was held on May 29-30, 2008 and 
brought together 38 Customs officers from across Turkey, 
mainly at the managerial level.  Many of the attendees were 
flown into Istanbul and provided lodging at USG expense.  The 
training was held at a local hotel and involved two days of 
presentations from USPTO and CBP officials on targeting 
techniques as well as case studies on how to deal with 
suspect shipments.  Representatives from the private sector 
also participated as observers. 
 
¶4. PROS: By involving managers from across Turkey, we were 
able to reach the broadest range of Customs posts at a 
high-level and stress the importance of protecting IPR.  The 
two-day format also allowed for an in-depth review of 
strategies and techniques that these managers could take back 
to their posts and impart to their line officers. 
Participating rights holders were able to network with 
Customs officers. 
 
¶5. CONS: This training session was by far the most expensive, 
as we paid for the meeting facilities (including simultaneous 
translation) and the lodging and transportation for many of 
the participants.  The total cost was approximately USD 
37,400, over 3/4 of the overall budget (not counting expenses 
associated with bringing experts from the U.S.), or about USD 
1000 per official trained.  While reaching out to managers 
passed the message that IPR is important at a higher-level, 
the lack of line officers meant that those most likely to use 
and apply specific targeting strategies were not 
participating (and their acquisition of the techniques 
depended upon the managers actually taking the time to pass 
along the training's lessons).  Several participating 
officers noted that they would have preferred more hands-on 
training on specific types of products instead of the 
necessarily more theoretical targeting strategies and case 
studies. 
 
Bringing the Mountain to Mehmet: On-Site Training 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. Initially, we had planned to conduct only the one training 
session, but as there were still some funds remaining in the 
budget -- approximately USD 10,000 -- we looked for 
alternative ways to conduct additional programs.  Holding 
another centralized training was out of the question with the 
funds available, so we tried to develop a new program that 
 
ANKARA 00001630  002.3 OF 003 
 
 
would be substantially cheaper while addressing some of the 
weaknesses of the previous session. The result was a series 
of one-day trainings from March 24-27, 2009, held in cities 
near major Customs posts (the ports of Istanbul and Izmir and 
the land border crossing into Greece and Bulgaria at Edirne). 
 
 
¶7. The second round of trainings also involved direct 
participation from USPTO and CBP officials, and reached an 
additional 131 Customs line officers and local Turkish 
National Police (TNP) officers with IPR responsibilities. 
Unlike the earlier training, these sessions brought in active 
participation by rights holders, including presentations on 
specific techniques for determining the authenticity of their 
goods and a hands-on "fake goods trade show" where officers 
had an opportunity to compare exemplars of genuine and 
counterfeit products and learn from the IPR owners how to 
tell the difference. 
 
¶8. To control costs, we took advantage of the fact that the 
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB - the 
local equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce) is engaged in a 
long-term collaboration with Turkish Customs to modernize the 
service (including millions of dollars in renovation for 
border posts).  Recognizing the importance of this training, 
TOBB agreed to provide the conference facilities of their 
local chambers at no cost.  In addition, at the Istanbul and 
Izmir locations they agreed to provide simultaneous 
translation equipment, further slashing costs.  The Izmir 
Chamber of Commerce also offered to provide lunch for the 
Izmir training, and the American Business Forum in Turkey 
(ABFT - a U.S. Chamber affiliate) stepped up to provide lunch 
in Istanbul and Edirne.  By leveraging these partnerships, we 
were able to provide the training with little expense beyond 
the travel of Embassy staff and hiring translators (plus 
translation equipment for the Edirne site).  USPTO again 
generously covered the travel of its own staff and the CBP 
participant.  The cost for these three trainings came in at 
just under USD 6700. 
 
¶9. PROS: Obviously, the chief benefit of this model was to 
provide training to a substantial number of officers for a 
fraction of the cost (about USD 50 per official trained). 
Bringing the training to the individual cities meant greatly 
increased participation from actual line officers, imparting 
effective techniques to those who will use them in their 
daily work.  The hands-on element of the "fake goods trade 
show" was particularly effective and well-received. 
Increasing the degree of involvement by interested private 
sector rights holders provided them with an opportunity to 
highlight the specific characteristics of their products and 
to network directly with line officers.  Finally, inviting 
non-Customs law enforcement officials to participate, such as 
the TNP, brought in new perspectives and passed the message 
on to other parts of the law enforcement apparatus at no 
additional cost (as described in reftels, the same TNP 
officers just weeks later conducted major raids of 
counterfeit pharmaceuticals, books, and CDs/DVDs.) 
 
¶10. CONS: The one-day format meant less time for in-depth 
examination of techniques, and the inclusion of 
private-sector presentations further cut into the time 
available for case studies and law enforcement-specific 
discussions.  The use of U.S.-based presenters required 
simultaneous translation, both expensive and time-consuming. 
It also required that the meetings all be held within a few 
days, so some rights holders could only participate in one 
session as they could not devote an entire week to traveling 
around Turkey.   Using borrowed facilities reduced somewhat 
the ability to control circumstances, as was evident when the 
Izmir Chamber of Commerce invited the press to attend the 
introductory speeches (useful in raising awareness of IPR, 
but requiring us to ask them to leave when more sensitive 
topics began to be discussed). 
 
Speaking Mehmet's Language: Local Training in Turkish 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶11. With only about USD 3200 left in the account, we were 
forced to look at even further cost-cutting measures. 
Recognizing that more than half of the expense of the March 
trainings had been for translators and equipment, and taking 
advantage of the participation of Embassy staff in those 
trainings, we proposed to USPTO that we conduct the same 
 
ANKARA 00001630  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
style of training entirely in Turkish using Embassy personnel 
(one FSN and one Turkish-speaking Econ officer).  With USPTO 
concurrence, and input from CBP in designing an appropriate 
presentation, we held these trainings in the southern port 
cities of Mersin and Antalya September 28-30, 2009.  The 
third round reached an additional 58 Customs and TNP officers. 
 
¶12. The partnership of TOBB was once again essential, as they 
again provided local conference facilities at no charge.  New 
partners also appeared out of the woodwork, a tribute to the 
success of our previous programs.  The Italian Consulate 
General in Istanbul's IPR Desk heard of the March training 
from companies that had participated and asked if they could 
partner with us in the next round.  They brought various 
Italian companies to the September sessions, adding an EU 
perspective to the discussions, and also sponsored lunch for 
the Antalya program.  The Turkish Trademark Association 
(TMD), some of whose members had taken part in March, also 
came forward and offered to pay for lunch at the Mersin 
location.  The only cost for these programs, therefore, was 
to translate the CBP presentation and pay for Embassy staff 
travel.  Because Antalya and Mersin are somewhat smaller 
posts and therefore have fewer officers, the cost per 
official trained was comparable to the March sessions, at 
around USD 50. 
 
¶13. PROS: The pros of this model are similar to those 
described in para 9 above.  In addition, holding the session 
entirely in Turkish meant there was no need to pace speech to 
allow for translation.  The time saved permitted us to 
include even more rights holder participation (which was 
handy, as the success of the previous program had led to 
increased rights holder interest).  The inclusion of Italian 
firms also added EU perspectives and awareness of EU 
regulations, useful as Turkey continues its accession talks 
with the EU. 
 
¶14. CONS: Embassy officers are obviously not trained Customs 
professionals, and so are limited in their ability to respond 
to questions on specific techniques.  While increased demand 
from rights holders created an agenda that focused on 
everything from batteries to soap to Viagra, the more 
presentations there are the less time there is for each.  At 
the same time, having too many presentations increases the 
risk of information overload - several officers commented 
that they would have preferred fewer but more detailed 
presentations from rights holders. 
 
What Mehmet Taught Us: Lessons Learned 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶15. Although each model has its own pros and cons, all were 
successful in the main goal of passing on counterfeit goods 
recognition techniques to Customs officers.  The key takeaway 
was that finding effective local partners within the business 
community can dramatically cut costs, as can partnership with 
missions from other countries.  While bringing managers from 
different Customs posts to a central location helped spread 
the message at a certain key level, we learned that it is 
also possible to take the show on the road and reach out to 
the actual line officers without adding substantially to the 
cost of training.  Hands-on training from the actual rights 
holders presented a more memorable experience for the 
recipients of training, and also helped rights holders 
establish useful contacts with front-line inspectors. 
 
JEFFREY 
 
           "Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.s 
gov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turkey"