Quiapo on US list of ‘most notorious’ markets

MANILA, Philippines—Manila’s Quiapo district has been named by the Washington-based Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) as one of the world’s 21 most “notorious markets” for pirated and counterfeits goods.

In a report posted on the Web site of the US Embassy in Manila, the USTR called Quiapo “one example of several locations and neighborhoods (in the Philippines), especially in Metro Manila, known to deal in counterfeit and pirated goods such as clothing, shoes, watches, and handbags.”

Last year, Quiapo and 168 Mall in Binondo, also in Manila, along with Greenhills in San Juan and the Makati Cinema Square in Makati City, were cited by the USTR in its Special 301 Report on similar markets.

“Street stalls in these areas are a haven for counterfeit clothing, shoes, watches, and handbags,” said the report.

It pointed out that “due to the unwillingness of local investigation agencies and government authorities to confront stall owners, trademark owners have had a difficult time obtaining meaningful enforcement action.”

“Also, although a 2006 Executive Order established landlord liability, no landlords reportedly have yet been prosecuted for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations,” the report added.

It did not mention fake diplomas, term papers, official certificates and even fake checks sold on Claro M. Recto Avenue.

According to the USTR, the 20 other notorious markets for pirated and counterfeit items worldwide were: the Bahia in Guayaquil, Ecuador; China Small Commodities market in Yiwu, Luouwu market in Shenzhen, Yangpu Yigao Digital Square in Shanghai, and the Hailong PC Mall and Silk Market in Beijing, all in China; Ciudad del Este in Paraguay; Harco Glodok in Jakarta; La Salada in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ladies Market in Mongkok, Hong Kong; Petrivka in Kiev, Ukraine; Savelovskiy in Moscow, Russia; Panthip Plaza, Klong Thom, Saphan Lek, and Baan Mor shopping areas, all in Thailand; San Andresitos, Colombia; Tepito in Mexico City; Nehru Place in New Delhi, India; and the Urdu bazaars in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan.

The USTR, the agency responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, commodities and direct investment policies, also blamed the following for IPR violations:

• Online services, like Baidu in China, which are “engaged in ‘deep linking’ to allegedly infringing materials often stored on third-party hosting sites.”

• Pay-per-download sites, like the Allofmp3 Clones in Russia, which exemplify the problem of online sales of pirated music on a pay per download basis.

• Live sports telecast piracy, like TV Ants, which reportedly operates from China.

• Smartphone software, like 91.com, which makes available software applications to the public without compensating rights holders.

In its 2010 Special 301 Report, the USTR pointed out that “ineffective enforcement of IPR (in the Philippines) continues to be a concern” to the US government.

“Although some agencies continue making progress to increase raid and seizure activity, these efforts have been proven insufficient to address widespread piracy and counterfeiting in the country,” the agency noted.

The USTR urged the Philippine government to “address inefficiencies in the judicial system and to establish specialized IPR courts so that rights holders will have a reliable avenue for recourse and prosecutions move forward effectively and without delay.”

The US also urged the government to “complete its work on legislative reforms needed to strengthen IPR protection” and “address its IPR protection and enforcement challenges.”

Last year, the Philippines was one of 29 countries on the USTR list of nations with the “widespread availability of pirated and counterfeit goods.”

Other nations on the list included Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Peru, Mexico, Egypt, and Kuwait.

On the other hand, those on the USTR’s priority watchlist were the following countries: China, Russia, Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Venezuela.