Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement - Signatures and Ratifications

Signatures and Ratifications

As of 4 February 2013, the treaty was signed by 31 states as well as the European Union. Japan was on 4 October 2012 the first to ratify the treaty.

The treaty is according to Article 39 open for signature until 1 May 2013 for the participants involved in the negotiations as well as all members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) of which the participants agree. It enters into force after subsequent ratification by six states (Article 40). After 1 May 2013, WTO members that did not sign, may accede to the convention after approval by the ACTA committee (Article 43).

A signing ceremony was held on 1 October 2011 in Tokyo, with the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea signing the treaty. The European Union, Mexico, and Switzerland attended but did not sign, professing support and saying they will do so in the future (the European Union and 22 of its member states did so in January 2012). In May 2012, the Swiss government announced that it would withhold its signature while deliberations in the EU are pending. In early July 2012, Claude Heller, Mexican Ambassador to Japan, signed the treaty. On 23 July, the Senate of Mexico rejected the decision the Cabinet of the country took.