ACTA signed – EU deaf-mute

According to The Mainichi Daily News the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was signed today, Saturday 1 October 2011, at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo, by most of the eleven international partners.

Through the web pages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) we find the text of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) (May, 2011; 24 pages)

According to MOFA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) was opened for signature on 1 May 2011.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan had announced that it will hold the signing ceremony for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Saturday, 1 October 2011, at Iikura Guest House, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ahead of the ceremony MOFA reminded that:

The negotiation has been carried out among Australia, Canada, the European Union and its Member States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States, and reached a general agreement at the negotiation meeting held in Japan in October 2010, followed by the completion of technical and translation work in April 2011.

The signing ceremony will be attended by the representatives of all the participants in the ACTA negotiations, and those that have completed relevant domestic processes will sign the agreement. The agreement is open for signature until May 1, 2013.

European Union

Even if the European Union was only to attend the signing ceremony, not yet to sign ACTA, I would have expected the European Commission's DG Trade, trade commissioner Karel De Gucht, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Delegation of the European Union to Japan and the Council of the European Union to be sensitive enough to inform the public about the controversial agreement and the next steps ahead of the event in a visible and active manner.

Nada.



Ralf Grahn