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

Ambassador Manzoor Ahmad (Pakistan)
B.i Continuation of the discussion of the proposals set out side-by-side in TN/IP/W/12
16. The representative of Australia said that his delegation shared the concerns voiced by Argentina, Chile and the United States. He did not quite understand the reply of the European Communities to the question of what would happen, particularly to third countries, when a geographical indication had fallen into disuse in its country of origin and no notification of withdrawal of that term had been made. As had been indicated by other delegations, the concerns expressed were due to the fundamental question of legal effects imposed by the EC proposal on participating and non-participating Members. He felt particularly concerned by the comment made by the EC that all WTO Members would have to assume some onerous and burdensome obligations if the system were to be truly multilateral and not plurilateral. His delegation reiterated the view it had expressed in previous meetings: there was currently in place in the WTO a system that was multilateral and which did not necessitate the participation of all WTO Members, namely the Code of Good Practice of the TBT Agreement.
TN/IP/M/15