FF Plus warns against signing Copyright Bill

The FF Plus has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to sign the Copyright Amendment Bill, according to a statement on the Politicsweb site. The FF Plus believes trade agreements between SA and countries in Africa and elsewhere could be seriously jeopardised by this Bill. It notes America's trade representative in SA, Robert Emmet Lighthizer, announced recently that SA’s status of eligibility for preferential trade will be reviewed on 30 January due to concerns about how the country deals with the protection of intellectual property. The statement adds: ‘The FF Plus shares the Copyright Coalition of SA's concern that if the Bill is implemented it could lead to a staggering loss of R34bn in export revenue should America not renew its preferential trade agreement with SA. More than 6 000 products, including meat, fruit, vegetables, precious metals, chemicals, iron, steel and other manufactured goods, are affected by the trade agreement.’