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

Ambassador Chak Mun See (Singapore)
G IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 23.4
69. The representative of Argentina quoted paragraph 9 of the revised proposal from the European Communities and their member States and emphasized that, for the reasons stated there, the European Communities had, obviously, not proposed additional mechanisms for the settlement of disputes. Consequently, her delegation was puzzled by the fact that the European Communities were now expressing the view that the Hungarian proposal would complement the proposal by the European Communities and would like to know from the European Communities what had made them change their mind. Her delegation continued to endorse the joint proposal from Canada, Chile, Japan and the United States, which was consistent with the spirit of Article 23.4. The basic principles of Article 23.4 were that the system to be established should facilitate the protection of geographical indications; that it should be a voluntary system; and that it should not create an additional burden. As a preliminary comment to the Hungarian proposal, she said that having a special mechanism for the resolution of disputes was obviously an additional obligation to those laid down in the TRIPS Agreement. She expressed support for the point made by Chile concerning the Lisbon Agreement.
IP/C/M/29