MPs to immerse themselves into deep ACTA scrutiny

The parliamentary foreign affairs committee has laid out its plan for a wide public consultation on the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which Malta signed as part of a 22-member bloc from the European Union.

A demonstration against ACTA, which is widely believed will curtail the rights of internet users to access websites where copyright might be infringed or even allow customs officials to seize generic medicines at border points, will take place in Valletta on Saturday.

ACTA supporters on the other hand are insisting the agreement strengthens copyright laws and is targeted at large-scale and commercial counterfeit products from countries of origin like China.

Committee chairman Francis Zammit Dimech made a public invitation to stakeholders to make their representations to the foreign affairs committee on ACTA.

"It's such a sensitive matter that affects people, and our scrutiny must be accurate and involve everybody who wants to express themselves on this committee," Zammit Dimech said.

He was joined in his call by Labour MP Leo Brincat, who said a public advertisement was necessary to invite not just stakeholders advocating for or against the agreement, but who were also technical experts on this law.

But the general mood among Opposition MPs was questioning of the extent of government's understanding of ACTA, with Brincat querying whether the government understood the implications of its signature or whether t was pressured by third parties into signing.

"The more suspicious aspect of ACTA is the covert manner and lack of transparency in the way the agreement was worked out. So it is important for the government to explain to us, before we turn to stakeholders, how deep its analysis had been when it signed ACTA or whether it was pressured by third parties to sign the agreement," Brincat said.

Labour shadow minister for foreign affairs George Vella said the consultation process should have started well before government signed ACTA.

"I bow my head to the executive, but it's in matters like these - which are technical, not partisan - that there's nothing wrong for the prime minister to sign such instruments carrying the full weight of parliamentary approval. This hearing, logically, should have taken place before."

But Francis Zammit Dimech insisted that government's signature would have to be eventually followed by parliament's decision on whether it ratifies the instrument or not.

"The fact that government signs this agreement with 22 other member states is a sign of the importance it places on the principles of ACTA, which is the protection of copyright holders in the most effective way possible. And ACTA already safeguards privacy rights, which is something set out in its preamble."

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