Quiapo, known as the ‘old downtown’ in Manila was listed in United States Trade Representative (USTR) report as one of the more than 30 Internet and physical markets around the globe that serve as notorious hubs for piracy and counterfeiting.

The list dubbed as ‘Special 301 Review of Notorious Markets‘ described Quiapo as “one example of several locations and neighborhoods, especially in metropolitan Manila, known to deal in counterfeit and pirated goods such as clothing, shoes, watches and handbags.”

According to the report issued last February 28, the Notorious Markets List identifies selected markets, including those on the Internet, which exemplify the problem of marketplaces dealing in infringing goods and helping to sustain global piracy and counterfeiting. These are marketplaces that have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property rights infringements.

“The Philippines will remain on the Watch List in 2008,” the report said.

This is the country’s third time to be on the watch list after it was removed from the priority watch list in 2006. The country had been in the priority watch list since 2001.

USTR also reported in 2007 that Quiapo was notorious for selling counterfeit and pirated items, where stalls were the target of many raids during the period.

Besides Quiapo, other physical market included in USTR list are Bahia Market in Ecuador, China Small Commodities Market in China, Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Harco Glodok in Indonesia, La Salada in Argentina, Ladies Market in Hong Kong, Luowu Market in China, Nehru Place in India, PC Malls in China, Petrivka Market in Ukraine, Red Zones in Thailand, San Andresitos in Colombia, Savelovskiy Market in Russia, Silk Market in China, Tepito in Mexico and Urdu Bazaars in Pakistan.

The US urges the Philippines to take steps to reverse these trends and strengthen its enforcement regime against piracy and counterfeiting, the report added.