61. The representative of the European Communities, referring to paragraph 31 of document IP/C/W/85, asked whether the Secretariat could confirm that the Bangui Agreement did not provide for mechanisms which appeared to be essential to the system of the Lisbon Agreement, whereby each member State could, within a given time-frame and by a given procedure, deny protection of a geographical indication on its territory without providing any reason. Noting that according to paragraph 33 of document IP/C/W/85 foreign appellations of origin could only be registered as a result of an international convention, he wondered which international agreements this concerned and, in particular, whether the Paris Convention or the TRIPS Agreement were such conventions or agreements or whether there were any bilateral agreements which extended the benefits of the Bangui Agreement to right holders from foreign countries. He commented that the answers to this question seemed to be relevant in relation to Articles 3 and 4 of the TRIPS Agreement.
