[x-pubpol] EU Council Quietly Adopts ACTA, By Hiding It In An Agriculture And Fisheries Meeting

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111219/02385917123/eu-council-quietly-adopts-acta-hiding-it-agriculture-fisheries-meeting.shtml

At the end of last week, the Council of the European Union – which is where
national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate
policies – had a meeting. A group of some 40 ministers for agriculture and
fisheries signed off on a range of important matters, including:**

*Total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2012
Fishing opportunities for 2012 in the Black Sea
Authorisation of four genetically modified varieties
Aid for processed citrus fruit
Welfare of animals during transport
Vaccination against bluetongue
Excess CO2 emissions from new cars
Temporary reception of certain Palestinians*

Actually, there was another item, but from its penultimate position on the
agenda it was clearly not really regarded as very important, and was just
waved through. Here's how the official press release
(pdf<http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/agricult/127031.pdf>)
reported it:*

The Council adopted a decision authorising the signing of an
anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) with Australia, Canada, Japan,
the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland
and the United States.

ACTA is aimed at establishing an international framework to improve the
enforcement of intellectual property right laws and create improved
international standards for actions against large-scale infringements of
intellectual property. Negotiations were concluded in November 2010.

*So, continuing the tradition of denying European citizens any opportunity
to offer their views on ACTA, the Council of national ministers employed
the shabby trick of pushing the treaty through by adopting it without
debate at a meeting whose main business had nothing to do with
international trade.


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