Minutes - TRIPS Council Special Session - View details of the intervention/statement

Chairperson: Ambassador Dacio Castillo, Honduras
1 NEGOTIATIONS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM OF NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES AND SPIRITS
1.29. The representative of Canada said that her delegation had been an engaged participant in the TRIPS Special Session from the beginning. Canada remained a co-sponsor of the joint proposal and had consistently noted its openness to participating in discussions in line with the mandate. Having noted the slowed pace of negotiations and the absence of substantive exchanges among Members, she said her delegation welcomed the Chairperson's questions as an opportunity for all to reassess the status of their work. With respect to the Chair's first question, Canada's view was that Members had not sufficiently advanced the work of the Special Session since MC10 for them to expect to deliver significant outcomes at this Ministerial Conference. As such, and in light of the broader negotiating context, her delegation did not see a prominent role for the Special Session in Buenos Aires. 1.30. With respect to the second question on the future of the negotiations, she welcomed the Chairman's invitation to reflect on the future of the TRIPS Special Session. Canada believed it to be important for Members in this and other fora to periodically take stock of Members' efforts and to benchmark their progress. She added that a more complete answer to the question would require significant internal reflection and consultation. In continuing that reflection, however, she said that Canada saw value in the Membership participating, following the Ministerial, in an evaluation of the prospects for progress in the Special Session, given the current pace of discussions.
The Special Session took note of the statements made.
TN/IP/M/32