ACTA: Factsheet

This fact sheet provides background on ACTA and addresses some of the common concerns raised by stakeholders in a number of countries. For the latest information on ACTA, please refer to the ACTA webpage and the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties webpage.

What IS the goal of ACTA?

• Counterfeiting and piracy continue to negatively impact States and companies. Unfortunately, they are also increasingly affecting the everyday life of citizens. Besides the often-copied luxury goods and blockbuster movies, counterfeiters and pirates are now taking liberties with common household articles – everything from home appliances to toothpaste. From the perspective of public and consumer health and safety, the appearance of counterfeit medicines and items such as counterfeit spare parts for cars, buses, and planes poses a threat that cannot be ignored.
• ACTA establishes an international framework for participating governments’ efforts to more effectively combat the proliferation of counterfeiting and piracy, which undermines legitimate trade and the sustainable development of the world economy.
• Counterfeiting and piracy are transnational activities. The growth of this illegal trade spurred the ACTA participants to agree to develop an instrument that will strengthen international cooperation in our individual and common efforts to confront this shared threat.
• ACTA sets out obligations which constitute best practice forms of intellectual property (IP) enforcement. The obligations are entirely consistent with existing Australian law. The standards set out in ACTA build on the IP enforcement standards articulated in the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement, [1995] ATS 38), to which Australia is party.
• ACTA concentrates on three areas:
  1. cooperation among ACTA parties to address the challenges of cross-border trade in counterfeit and pirated goods;
  2. establishing a set of enforcement best practices that are used by authorities; and
  3. a legal framework of enforcement measures.
• ACTA is intended to focus on commercially-oriented counterfeiting and piracy. There is evidence to suggest that criminal organisations are increasingly involved in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of these illegal goods.

Counterfeiting and piracy not only take place in the physical world, but also increasingly in the digital environment. ACTA aims to address the problem of counterfeiting and piracy as a whole, and seeks to cover each of its dimensions

What IS NOT the goal of ACTA?

• ACTA will not require changes to Australian laws.
• ACTA is not about dictating how countries should define infringement of IP rights (IPR).
• ACTA does not focus on private, non-commercial activities of individuals, nor will it result in the monitoring of individuals or intrude in their private sphere. Accordingly:
  • civil liberties will not be curtailed by ACTA; and
  • ACTA does not require border authorities to search travellers’ baggage for IPR infringing goods or their personal electronic devices for IPR infringing downloads.
• ACTA does not require Internet Service Providers to terminate users' connections on the basis of accumulated allegations of online IPR infringement (the so-called “three strikes” rule).
• ACTA will not ban or limit the availability of generic drugs in Australia, nor impact on trade in legitimate generic drugs.

When will ACTA come into force?

• It will be up to each ACTA participant, in accordance with its internal procedures, to decide whether and when to bring ACTA into force.
• ACTA has been tabled in Parliament for consideration by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which will recommend whether Australia should ratify the treaty.
• For the first six parties to ratify, ACTA will enter into force 30 days after the date that the sixth party has deposited its instrument of ratification, acceptance, or approval.

Updated 22 November 2011