123. The representative of Argentina said that her delegation did not see any tension between the two concepts referred to in paragraph 7 of the Chair's note. The fact that the system was multilateral did not mean that it would lose its voluntary nature. Members should express consent to participating in the system as stipulated in Article 23.4. The fact that it was a multilateral system did not imply a legal effect on all WTO Members, including those that did not give their express consent to participate in the system. "Multilateral" meant that the outcome of multilateral negotiations should be a multilaterally agreed result. The legal scope and effects of the system did not stem from the meaning of the term "multilateral"; they was determined on the basis of the voluntary nature of the participation in the system. If the system was a voluntary one, then the consent of each participating Member was required. Obligations deriving from the system for WTO Members should be generated at the time a Member gave its consent to participate in the system.
