133. The representative of Senegal said that the EC's position was known concerning the participation of developing countries and of the technical assistance that could be provided by the WTO and WIPO. He also recalled the WIPO-WTO Joint Initiative on Technical Cooperation for LDCs with respect to the TRIPS Agreement. His delegation had a particular interest in protection, extension and use of geographical indications. He observed that LDCs, as New Zealand had commented, were not obliged to fulfil any of the TRIPS obligations but, given the trade interest of geographical indications, such a protection would be important in the realm of market access. Nowhere in the document presented by the EC and their member States was there any reference to S&D as in the WTO Agreements. Participation by developing countries and, more specifically, by LDCs was often subject to the existence of special and differential treatment. In the future, a special reference could be made to S&D. He recalled that Members of OAPI, the French-speaking African Intellectual Property Organization, had a single law on intellectual property, and within the Bangui Agreement, which was the source of that organization, there was a special section on geographical indications. His country was interested in the subject even though it was not at the level of implementing TRIPS as yet.
