A joint EU-US strategy to combat the global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has been welcomed by the commercial software industry, according to Business Software Alliance (BSA) Ireland.

The "EU-US Action Strategy for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights" was launched last month by US commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and EU industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen. The strategy was endorsed by US president George W. Bush and EU commission president José Manuel Barroso at the EU-US Summit in Vienna.

The counterfeiting and piracy trade affects virtually all industries - in particular music, film, television and software - and is estimated to be worth €360 billion a year. The new strategy will focus on "priority" countries such as China and Russia, which flood the EU and US markets with counterfeit goods.

BSA Ireland said yesterday that the piracy rate in the Republic remained unacceptably high and "affects the Irish economy and costs Irish jobs". Software piracy is a particular problem in Ireland and the BSA estimates that more than one in three software packages installed in the State is an illegal copy.