ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has suggested various measures to the government for effective implementation of an agreement on trade related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) in the country for compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) regime.

The research report printed in the CBR quarterly review 'agreement on TRIPS: implication for Pakistan', said it was encouraging that Pakistan has already revised most of its intellectual property rights (IPRs) laws in accordance with the requirements of TRIPS agreement and procedural rules are being drafted for enforcement purposes.

The report, however, said enforcement continued to be a weak area and as things stand, irrespective of the repercussions. "This state of affairs has not only made us vulnerable to criticism but might also attract trade retaliatory measures from our trading partners.

It was observed that developing countries including Pakistan protect intellectual property for the reasons: the market of a country that did not protect intellectual property would tend to be flooded with inferior illegitimate products.

Thus, while the availability of pirated products might seem an economic advantage in the short term, in the long term, it would inevitably impede a country's development.

The report recommended that there was an urgent need of creating awareness on the subject for which both public and private sectors should play their roles for conducting an effective campaign on electronic and print media.

It further said that since research capabilities were currently lacking on intellectual property rights, it might be relevant to set up a research institute to promote knowledge and awareness of intellectual property rights laws of Pakistan as well as the intellectual property system of other countries.

Simultaneously, since intellectual property rights was relatively a new field of operation for the enforcement agencies in Pakistan, meaningful activities would also be essential for the officers of these law enforcing agencies for developing requisite skills to effectively encounter IPR-related violations.

The report says, "in order to fulfil our international obligation, it would be appropriate that the trade related aspects of intellectual property rights agreement was implemented in phases starting from mandatory provisions and then moving on to the optional requirements.

It said that Pakistan should approach the World Intellectual Property Organization for seeking necessary assistance in the preparation of laws and regulations on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights as well as on the prevention of their abuse and training of personnel and establishment or reinforcement of domestic offices relevant to these matters.