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

Ambassador Eui-yong Chung (Korea, Republic of)
D ORGANIZATION OF WORK
40. The Chairperson said that he thought it was important to get, as a first step, a general understanding on the work programme. The next step, the fulfilment of the mandate, was a daunting one and would need concerted efforts by its membership; he hoped that this could be achieved before the Fifth Ministerial Conference. The mandate was very clear and very specific: the Special Session of the TRIPS Council was mandated to have negotiated the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits by the Fifth Ministerial Conference. He thought at this Session there had been a very useful exchange of views and he took note of all the various positions not only with respect to the work programme he had suggested but also with respect to a number of substantive issues. After listening to various positions, he would not ask for endorsement of the work programme but would rather note on his own responsibility that there seemed to be a general understanding among the Members that the suggestions he had made were a useful way of organizing the work. These suggestions provided for flexibility, especially with regard to time-frames with soft target dates. The arrangements that had been suggested could be reviewed and improved as the work proceeded. As regards the meeting in June, he thought that the Special Session could proceed as he had suggested. He intended to hold informal consultations to prepare the second Special Session, including on the informal note listing points and issues for discussion at the next meeting. With regard to the inventory of information concerning the implementation of obligations under Article 23, he noted that there was no clear agreement among the Members and proposed to continue consultations on this issue.
TN/IP/M/1