What has been described as the ' secretly negotiated treaty' - the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), should be rejected outright, a leading intellectual property expert has told the Australian Parliament.

The Australian National University's (ANU) Dr Matthew Rimmer, an Associate Professor from the College of Law, told a special joint Committee that the treaty was 'secretly negotiated by a limited number of nations.

"Scholars have called this a 'Country-Club' approach to setting intellectual property standards. There has been little in the way of democratic deliberations with civil society groups or affected industries and communities," Rimmer said.

In 2007, the United States, the European Union, Switzerland, and Japan announced that they would negotiate an intellectual property enforcement treaty. Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada have joined the negotiations from which India and China are notable in their absence.

"Developing countries and mid-tier nations such as China and India have complained about being excluded from the negotiations. The critical role of parliaments in treaty-making has been trammeled."

The treaty is designed to maximise the rights of intellectual property owners in a wide range of areas - copyright law, trademark law, the digital environment, and border measures.

However, Rimmer is worried about the broad definitions of " piracy" and "counterfeiting" under the treaty.

"The treaty lacks balance. It does not adequately deal with limitations and exceptions under intellectual property - such as fair dealing and fair use under copyright law; defenses for consumers and intermediaries under trademark law; and access mechanisms under patent law. This treaty fails to provide for equivalent remedies for the abuse of intellectual property rights." Rimmer said.

ACTA continues to rouse concern as both an exclusive and concurrently divisive process. The treaty has been referred to the European Court of Justice to determine whether the text violates fundamental rights and freedoms.

What little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty suggest ACTA will have a broad mandate and could wield new tools targeting "Internet distribution and information technology".

Rimmer has suggested that the Australia's new Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights investigate the treaty.

(Source: Xinhua)