Ukraine plays down piracy row

Published: 22 December 2001 y., Saturday
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Anatoly Zlenko, has said that relations with the United States will not be damaged by Washington's decision to impose sanctions on Ukraine over video and compact disc piracy. The United States imposed new duties on a range of Ukrainian goods on Thursday, after the Ukrainian parliament rejected a bill to combat the unauthorised production of compact discs, CD-ROMs and DVDs by introducing a system of licensing for intellectual property. The US estimates that Ukrainian piracy costs American businesses between $75m and $200m per year, and has been urging Kiev to take action for about two years. It is retaliating by imposing punitive tariffs on Ukrainian goods, including metals and footwear. Announcing the new sanctions, US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, said the US had tried to avoid introducing the punitive tariffs but Ukraine had not fulfilled its commitments "to pass adequate legislation to stop the unlicensed production of optical media products". He said the US had to move "forcefully" to protect its rights.
Šaltinis: news.bbc.co.uk
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Taxation: Removing cross-border tax obstacles for EU citizens

Today, the Commission published a Communication which outlines the most serious tax problems that EU citizens face in cross-border situations and announces plans for solutions. more »

State aid: Commission opens in-depth investigation into Hungarian support measures for national airline Malév

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation under EU state aid rules to examine a number of support measures, including several capital injections and shareholder loans, that the Hungarian authorities granted to Malév-Hungarian Airlines in the context of its privatisation and subsequent renationalisation. more »

Fake Chinese products spread

Internet and lax customs enforcement drive growth of 600 billion US dollar counterfeit goods industry. more »

Report: millions escape poverty

350 million people rose out of poverty in the past decade, but 1.4 billion are still extremely poor, says the latest report into rural poverty. more »

Getting more people into better jobs

New plan sets out action to reach 75% employment target for the EU by 2020. more »

Innovation Union: three new European research infrastructures on wind, solar and nuclear energy announced

Research Ministers of the EU Member States and Associated Countries, together with the European Commission, are announcing in Brussels today three new pan–European energy research infrastructures. more »

Commissioner Šemeta visits Moscow to strengthen EU-Russia customs cooperation

Algirdas Šemeta, Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Audit and Anti-fraud, is visiting Moscow today to discuss ways in which customs cooperation between the EU and Russia can be reinforced. more »

ECB must go on participating actively in tackling the economic crisis

Following on from Monday's debate with ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, MEPs on Tuesday adopted a resolution, by a show of hands, gauging the ECB's performance in 2009 and suggesting actions to be taken in view of the economic situation. more »

Parliament approves aid to unemployed people in the Netherlands

The European Parliament today approved €10.5 million in European Globalisation Adjustment Fund aid to over 3,000 people in the Netherlands who lost their printing and publishing sector jobs last year, due to the economic crisis. more »

France unveils Taj Mahal gold coin

A diamond-studded gold coin engraved with a picture of the Taj Mahal and worth 100,000 euros is unveiled at the Paris mint. more »