Statements
Hilton Hotel Yaoundé, Cameroon | November 17, 2011, 9:30 AM
Ambassador Jackson with the media [U.S. Embassy Yaounde Photo]
View of the participants [U.S. Embassy Yaounde Photo]
Geographical Indications
Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Jackson at the
United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Global Intellectual Property Academy
Thank you Nancy, John and everyone at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, for inviting me to speak today and introduce this important seminar on intellectual property rights and geographical indications. While I am not an expert on the topic of geographical indications, after extensive research during my 29-year diplomatic career, I can confidently tell you that California sparkling wine compares well with that other sparkling wine produced in a certain region of France.
Seriously, this topic is a welcome one for Cameroon, as I know products like Penja pepper, Oku white honey, and Cameroon’s great tasting pineapples are destined to take their places as globally recognized geographical indications. But I hope this seminar will raise the profile of intellectual property protection on a broader scale, because it is so important for Cameroon in several specific areas:
• First, of course, Cameroon’s unique products and geographical indications deserve protection for the sake of its hard working citizens. I believe Cameroon is particularly rich in traditional knowledge. If adequately protected by intellectual property legislation in the international context, this could bring great benefit to Cameroon’s rural communities.
• Second, I have been struck by the incredible talent of Cameroonian authors and musicians since I arrived here over a year ago – talent that also must be rewarded and protected by a good system of copyright administration so that Cameroon may produce another Manu Dibango or Mongo Beti.
• Finally, intellectual property protection is especially important in Cameroon as counterfeit medicines are increasingly posing yet another serious threat to the health of Africans.
Many of you are already very familiar with the topic of geographical indications, and you will become even more expert over the next couple of days. You may hear about competing ideas for the protection of geographical indications and European preferences as opposed to American preferences. You may wonder where does Cameroon fit in all of this? Well, squarely in the mix. A moment ago, I alluded to the many Cameroonian agricultural and food products that I believe are about to become valuable indications of quality for global consumers. I know of several U.S. gourmet coffee importers who are interested in Cameroonian coffee, to give you just one more example. The Embassy supports an office in Douala designed to stimulate these types of exports to the United States under the trade preferences contained in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Protection and cultivation of geographical indications would help Cameroonians gain top dollar for these exports.
On the other hand, some American products can suffer from mis-understanding relating to geographical indications in the Cameroonian market. For example, I understand that importers of American sparkling wine are sometimes assessed the customs duty normally imposed on Champagne, rather than the much lower duty for sparkling wines. Although this is not necessarily a problem you will tackle or even consider during the conference, I hope that such confusion can be overcome so that Cameroonian consumers can preserve the informed choices and access to quality products that geographical indications are intended to promote.
Another area of intellectual property that deserves serious attention here in Cameroon is copyright administration. As I mentioned, Cameroonian artists, especially musicians, must be able to register their works so that they can earn a living. However, I have observed that artists in Cameroon suffer from a legal dispute between two competing registration bodies, and the parent Ministry of Culture, that does not seem close to resolution. I will not attempt to comment on how the dispute should be resolved, other than to say that it needs to be resolved quickly; it has been festering since before I arrived. Defending artists’ works from piracy is challenging enough, but artists must first have the basic ability to establish the rights to their intellectual property through registration.
Piracy of Cameroonian music is a serious problem, but piracy plagues Cameroon in an arena with potentially much more serious consequences: counterfeit medicines. The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 30% of the medicines in Africa could be counterfeit. The United Nations estimates that half of the malaria drugs sold in Africa are counterfeit. Combating counterfeit medicines is a priority health initiative for these organizations and the U.S. Government for several reasons, but chiefly for the simple reason that counterfeit medicines will kill you. Taking anti-malaria drugs with no active ingredients, a common pirate formula in Africa, means that the patient prolongs his or her suffering from high fevers that can be fatal. During a meningitis epidemic in Niger, fake vaccines resulted in approximately 2500 deaths. Even worse than drugs without active ingredients, some fake drugs include ingredients that are toxic. Eighty-nine children died in Haiti in 1995 due to cough syrup prepared with diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical used in anti-freeze. One expert recently estimated that counterfeit medicines kill at least 100,000 people every year, mostly from the developing world.
I am proud to note that the United States is working hard to assist other like-minded nations battle these serious problems in the realm of intellectual property protection.
• We have increased our focus on Sub-Saharan Africa since 2007, providing approximately one million dollars of assistance per year to the region for enforcement training through the State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau.
• In September 2011, we awarded grants of $25,000 to three grassroots NGOs for projects that aim to raise public awareness of counterfeit medicines.
• Additionally, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office runs a great system of training programs called the Global Intellectual Property Academy, inviting officials from around the world to take part in up to 20 in-depth sessions every year. We have repeatedly nominated several Cameroonians for these training programs, and we will continue to do so. I am pleased that the U.S. PTO has chosen Cameroon as the site of this training session, demonstrating our commitment to strengthening intellectual property enforcement and administration.
Ultimately, intellectual property protection is about development. Without laws that protect a person’s property and belongings (be they intellectual or tangible), that person’s ability to create or accumulate wealth is severely inhibited. And without wealth creation, on a small, medium, or large scale, there can be little economic growth. Additionally, intellectual property protection promotes competition and respect for the rule of law. Our work together tomorrow and in the future on geographical indications and copyright administration has the potential to improve the economic conditions of Cameroonian farmers, musicians and artists. If we tackle the problems of intellectual property enforcement in medicines, we will save lives. I am confident that with all the intellectual power that I see before me, we will succeed in these endeavors.
Thank you very much.