44. The representative of Hong Kong, China endorsed that negotiations under Article 23.4 should go ahead quickly in respect of developing a system of notification and registration in respect of geographical indications for wines. He noted that there was doubt as to the mandate for extending that to geographical indications for spirits. On the other hand, for the sake of cooperation, his delegation had no objection to spirits being taken into account in this exercise. Hong Kong, China was looking forward to the papers which were being prepared by the European Communities and the Secretariat which it believed would be of great assistance in taking forward this exercise. As to the extension of the scope of protection to other categories, his delegation had reservations as to whether a mandate existed at present to do so. However, it was, of course, logical and, in a sense, inevitable, that demands arose for such extensions and it was part of a discussion which had been going on for some time. In his view, the process under Article 23.4 should be carried out efficiently and should not have to be repeated at some future date. He hoped to see that any process carried out under Article 23.4 in respect of wines should result in a system which was extensible to other categories at some point in the future without having to be largely reworked or rethought. If this consideration could be taken into account when such work went ahead, time and resources could be saved in the future.
