140. The representative of the European Communities said that his delegation would fully agree to have both voluntary and mandatory participation. As proposed under TN/C/W/52, the notification of a GI would be voluntary and the consultation mandatory. The proposal took account of the fact there was a Doha Development Agenda, that negotiations were taking place in the WTO, and that the register must therefore be multilateral. The simplest criterion would be to have a register open to all Members, but where those Members which had GIs but did not wish to protect them would be free not to notify under the proposal.
