CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Statement by Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Cuba, on Section 211 of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB).

August 31st, 2010

 

Mr. Chairman,

Each month it is expected that the parties provide new information that really allows the Body to know what is happening with this dispute, concrete steps are being taken to comply with the Appellate Body’s rulings for more than eight years ago.

However, once again the members are in front of a status report with very well-known phrases for each of us.

Paragraph sixth of Article 21 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding establishes that the status report will reflect the progresses made by the implementation of recommendations and rulings of this Body. One can conclude that the United States is not able to comply with this obligation, since there is no real progress they can present.

The defendant, would have to explain to the members the content, scope and progress of such legislative proposals regarding section 211 and the way these could make possible the fullfilment of the DSB’s recommendations and rulings.

Cases like this of Section 211, legislation contrary to basic principles of the TRIPS Agreement, in force since twelve years ago, question the very basis and effectiveness of the system that unites us.

The system is designed so that differences are resolved in a short time, in a structured manner, so as to avoid adverse trade impacts and thus mitigate the imbalances between weak and strong actors, making compliance with standards, and not prioritizing the force or the unilateralism, it gets severely affected when Body rulings are ignored.

Mr. Chairman,

The parties may note at each meeting the great interest of many members in resolving this dispute as soon as possible. Cuba is not the only country concerned, although certainly we are the most affected by the lack of political will of the parties in providing effective solution to this old dispute.

The second paragraph of Article 21 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding says that special attention will be paid to issues affecting the interests of developing country Members.  This important provision has also been ignored by the parties, especially by the United States, member that confirms its arrogant selectivity to comply with the TRIPS Agreement.
Mr. Chairman,
It is very serious that a Member brings into force laws aimed only at misappropriating properly recorded third intangible assets.  If those involved were U.S. trademarks, or European geographical indications, we will have to see what measures would the affected take.
The HAVANA CLUB trademark was registered, according to law, in the territory of the United States by the Cuban company CUBAEXPORT since 1976. The BACARDÍ’s interest in appropriating this trademark promoted the so-called Article 211 of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 1998 appeared.
It is appropriate to recall the United States, as once noted by the Appellate Body in its final remarks, paragraph 363 of the report, that “where a WTO Member chooses not to recognize intellectual property rights in its own territory relating to a confiscation of rights in another territory, a measure resulting from and implementing that choice must, if it affects other WTO Members, comply with the TRIPS Agreement, by which all WTO Members are voluntarily bound”.
Some might think that this claim every month is tiring and a sterile exercise, while nothing should be expected in this case where there is no willingness to comply, and that a small State like Cuba is imposed a discriminatory treatment due to imperial motivations.
They are true in that it is exhausting. Cuba and the overwhelming majority of the members are not responsible for the clear desregard to the system by a powerful State. However, they are wrong in questioning the value of the systematic denunciation of a codunct that violates the international right by that State. Our main resource is to face the exercise of the force and the violation of the international right by the most powerful will always be the ethical reivindication of justice. Cuba shall not give in to this endeavour.

Thank you very much.