EU, China announce information sharing

EU, China announce information sharing    Why is Hollywood Reporter running a story on its Web site with the headline “EU, China to share port info”? Have movie moguls suddenly taken an interest in container lifts per hour instead of facelifts?
   No, it’s because Laszio Kovacs, the European Union Commissioner responsible for taxation and customs, is visiting China where among other things, he is discussing how to fight piracy of movies and music as well as items such as toys, auto parts and drugs.
   China’s official Xinhua news agency said Kovacs attended the third Joint Customs Cooperation Committee meeting between China and the EU and also held talks with Mu Xinsheng, minister of the Chinese General Administration of Customs (GAC), on Monday.
   It quotes Kovacs as saying an “action plan” with “specific commitments for both parties to strengthen cooperation on protecting” intellectual property rights is under discussion.
   The EU is China’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade hitting $356.15 billion, 27 percent over 2006 according to Xinhua.
   Last year British, Dutch and Chinese customs authorities established a pilot project to exchange electronic information on sea containers moving through Rotterdam, Felixstowe and Shenzhen.
   According to the Reporter EU and Chinese officials have agreed to create a similar “intelligence network” linking their ports and for the EU to station anticounterfeiting officials in Beijing to work with Chinese authorities.