152. On S&D, the representative of the European Communities said: (i) that his delegation could confirm that S&D provisions would certainly be included in the final proposal or final text; (ii) that such S&D provisions would concern the three TRIPS issues mentioned in TN/C/W/52 together, and not only the register; and (iii) that it was not the intention of TN/C/W/52 to deal exhaustively with all these issues. TN/C/W/52 was a paper for modalities, and details would be discussed after modalities.
153. On costs, he said that there would be no costs for consumers or producers as a consequence of the register. One could even argue that the costs would be reduced for the national administrations because the register would simplify their requests for information. Regarding the option where a party claimed that a notified GI was a generic and therefore did not deserve protection, he confirmed that such a claim would have to be substantiated. Since this might already be the case in many instances, he believed that this would not add any cost.
