19. The representative of Argentina said that what the TRIPS Agreement had mandated to be negotiated was a system that would facilitate the protection of geographical indications and not increase it. In this regard, she said that the European Communities had made a valid point regarding Hong Kong, China's proposal for a ten-year time-limit for registered geographical indications. This would be a limitation to protection that was not foreseen in the TRIPS Agreement. Like other aspects of the EC proposal, this feature proposed by Hong Kong, China was a point of concern.
