Leading American brands want Thailand to be on Priority Watch List

The Nation, February 28, 2007


Leading American brands Levi, Marlboro and LM, the Cable Broadcasting Satellite Association of Asia and the American Apparel and Footwear Association have urged the US government to downgrade Thailand to its Priority Watch List, citing worsening counterfeiting, according to the US Trade Representative's recent report.

Thailand is currently categorised in the Watch List as making limited progress in suppressing intellectual property violations. The USTR will announce its revision of the intellectual property violation grouping in April.

If Thailand is moved from the Watch List to the Priority Watch List, it would face difficulties when the USTR considers the country's status in the US' Generalised System of Preferences and other trade retaliation practices.

In the letter submitted to the USTR, Levi Strauss & Co, one of the world's largest brandname apparel marketers, said the piracy problem in Thailand is severe. The situation is hurting its local and international business. It said the Kingdom serves as a manufacturing base for imitation goods, and is a leading exporter of those goods.