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I am gratified that Members of the Bills Committee have fully supported the Administration's initiative to implement Hong Kong's obligations under the multilateral TRIPS Agreement as soon as possible. The pragmatic and co-operative approach adopted by Members in examining the Bill has made it possible for the passage of the Bill today, some three and a half years ahead of the deadline for Hong Kong to implement its TRIPS obligations. The enactment of the Bill will help Hong Kong to demonstrate to other WTO members our firm commitment to a high level of intellectual property protection. It will also enhance Hong Kong's image as responsible trading partner in the multilateral trading system and as an international trading and services centre in the world.
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During the Bills Committee's deliberations, interested parties and the legal profession have commented on various technical aspects of the Bill as well as expressed concerns on a number of issues. These issues primarily stem from the divergent interpretations of certain Articles in the TRIPS Agreement and the different views over the consistency of certain clauses in the Bill with the existing legal framework in Hong Kong. After careful consideration of all the views expressed and the written submissions received, the Administration has agreed to modify a number of proposals in the Bill. The Administration has also agreed that some issues would need to be reconsidered in the context of the ongoing comprehensive law reforms on copyright and trade marks. I hope to be in a position to introduce a bill on copyright and one on trade marks later this year upon the completion of the law reform exercises and taking into account views expressed by the public, professional as well as interested groups.
At the Committee Stage later in this sitting, I will move a number of amendments to the Bill to reflect the agreements reached in the Bills Committee. I will also move other technical and minor amendments. All these have been set out in the paper circulated in my name to Members earlier. There are four major amendments that I wish to highlight.
The first one is concerned with the scope of the new copyright piracy offence. In clause 5 of the Bill, we originally proposed a new offence to fulfil the TRIPS obligation of combating wilful copyright piracy on a commercial scale more effectively. We received general support of this policy objective but the legal profession expressed concerns over the scope and the application of the new offence as originally drafted.