21. The representative of New Zealand said that the negotiations on the register were mandatory, and that while his delegation was uncomfortable with certain elements in Part C of the report which took them outside their comfort zone, it was not afraid to discuss them. He believed Members needed to have that discussion and he hoped that the principles put forward in the report would be a kind of legacy. While not all of these principles could be agreed upon, they might nevertheless help Members to concentrate on establishing a GI register and not to spend too much time on extraneous matters. Paragraphs 14 and 15 of the report stated that some Members had explained how the obligation to consult would technically be implemented in their legal system and that Members could do a little more in that respect. He believed that could be helpful. Contrary to what some Members might believe, he said that talking about technical details was not just a complicated way to delay progress, but that further technical discussions, as suggested in paragraph 15, would give a more practical approach to how proposals could be implemented, encouraging Members to move away from the level of abstraction that had dominated discussions for too long.
