US embassy cable - 04AMMAN2790

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002790 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SECSTATE PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2014 
TAGS: ETRD, KIPR, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S DPM ON IPR ISSUES, PRE-INSPECTION 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of 
Industry and Trade, when confronted with the first known U.S. 
exporter casualty of Jordan's pre-inspection program, 
promised to look into the case and said that the government 
is trying to work out a formula for freezing inspections of 
U.S. goods due to the FTA. Jordanian officials acknowledged 
that the program was inconsistent with WTO rules, at best. 
On other business, the DPM said revised amendments to the 
copyright law could go to Parliament in the summer's 
extraordinary session and that the Cabinet had approved 
Jordan's accessions to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the 
Madrid Protocol dealing with trademarks;the relevant laws 
would be amended and submitted to Parliament.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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DAMMAN Takes A Victim 
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2.  (C)  In a March 31 meeting with Mohammad Halaiqa, 
Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and 
Trade, the Ambassador continued to press USG concerns about 
Jordan's pre-inspection program for imports, known as Damman. 
 Halaiqa replied that the value of the U.S. goods checked 
under the program to date had amounted to only $8.08 million 
and had consisted of computers, tires, refrigerators, cars, 
and toys.  He stated that of the 498 products, only 268 were 
U.S.-origin and that the detected failures had all occurred 
only in U.S. transshipment products originally produced in 
Taiwan and China. 
 
3.  (C)  Halaiqa added that the government is trying to work 
on a formula under which Jordan could freeze the inspections 
of U.S. products due to the Free Trade Agreement with the 
U.S.  Halaiqa asserted that the Director General of the 
Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology believes that, 
in any event, Damman violates WTO rules and other Jordanian 
trade officials feel that it is, at a minimum, inconsistent 
with WTO rules. 
 
4.  (C)   In response, the Ambassador presented Halaiqa with 
a case in which a U.S. company had decided to cancel an 
$80,000 sale of freezers to Jordan due to the cost and 
inconvenience of the testing, documentation and 
pre-inspections required under Damman.  He said that the U.S. 
is becoming increasingly angry because Damman constitutes a 
constraint on trade.  This particular case would never have 
appeared in Jordan's trade statistics and there was no way of 
knowing how many other similar cases there might be.  In 
addition, continued the Ambassador, the U.S. is unhappy that 
its companies are being asked to comply with European 
standards, and that the process is monitored by a European 
company.  The Ambassador emphasized that the USG would 
continue to raise the matter.  It was indeed inconsistent 
with our trading relationship.  It was the principle not the 
size of affected trade that was this issue. 
 
5.  (C)  Halaiqa asked for the details of the case raised by 
the Ambassador and said, "We will try to solve the problem." 
The Ambassador said that we were only at the beginning of 
this problem and warned that it will grow as trade grows. 
 
6.  (SBU)  NOTE:  Subsequently, a representative of the 
company involved in the freezer case called to thank the 
Embassy for its help, reporting that the DPM's office had 
called him to inquire into the case.  END NOTE. 
 
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Progress in IPR 
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7.  (U)  The Ambassador asked Halaiqa about the status of a 
number of IPR steps Jordan was taking.  Halaiqa said that the 
amendments to the copyright law might go to Parliament in the 
summer's extraordinary session and that the government had 
issued a circular to all GOJ departments and offices on 
software.  The Cabinet had approved both the Patent 
Cooperation Law and the Madrid Protocol, addressing one of 
the conditions precedent for the second transfer of FY04 AID 
assistance.  The government's legal bureau was currently 
developing the required amendments to the relevant laws and, 
he expected, the drafts would be completed before June 1. 
Once complete, the amendments would be presented to 
Parliament for approval. 
GNEHM