87. The representative of Morocco hoped that the Secretariat could make available a French version of the joint proposal from Japan and the United States, since this would facilitate its examination. As a preliminary matter, he asked the delegations of Japan and the United States whether the proposal allowed for the extension of this notification and registration system to products other than wines and spirits. He underlined that the EC proposal provided for the possibility of expanding the system to include other products, which his delegation found particularly positive. His delegation was not in favour of any system which was limited to wines and spirits and desired the system to be expanded to products such as agricultural products, arts and crafts. Some delegations had indicated earlier that the obligations under the TRIPS Agreement in this regard were limited to wines, but he considered that, in this respect, the TRIPS Agreement was not a holy book, but an agreement drafted in a way to develop over time. He did not see any reason why this system should be limited to wines only. The Singapore Ministerial Declaration had extended this system to spirits and his delegation wished to see the next Ministerial Conference extend it to other products. He suggested that the Secretariat prepare an informal note on systems for the registration of products other than wines and spirits. Members could be invited to help the Secretariat in this regard by indicating the bilateral or plurilateral agreements that they had signed as well as lists of products capable of identification by their geographical origin.
