The United States and several other countries have signed an agreement aimed at combating piracy and intellectual property theft.

Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba hosted the signing of the deal Saturday in Tokyo. Deputy U.S. Trade Secretary Miriam Sapiro represented the United States.

The United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland have been negotiating the deal, known as ACTA for several years.

But the 27-nation European bloc, Mexico and Switzerland did not sign the treaty Saturday. They are expected to join by May 2013.

The agreement is expected to help strengthen criminal and civil suits against producers of faked goods and traffickers of counterfeit labels when it takes effect within the next few months.