11. The Chairman said that he had held consultations with the group supporting TN/C/W/52, the Joint Proposal Group, and the Hong Kong, China delegation. The purpose of these consultations had been for him to become acquainted with some of the delegations and to gain a sense of the issues under consideration, with a view to organizing future work, taking advantage of the presence in Geneva of capital-based experts, as well as sharing with these delegations his own understanding of the issues.
12. He recalled that the three clusters of issues identified by Ambassador Manzoor Ahmad (Pakistan) were: legal effects/consequences of registration and participation; notification and registration; and other issues, including fees, costs, administrative and other burdens, in particular for developing countries and least developed countries, and special and differential treatment. In October 2009, Ambassador Trevor Clarke had circulated a list of four questions concerning legal effects/consequences of registration, participation, and special and differential treatment, with the aim of focusing Members' discussions and structuring them around these questions. It was his understanding that delegations had an excellent discussion on the basis of this list of questions. Though it had not bridged the main gaps, the clarifications, case studies and presentations they had sparked had shed light on various issues. That kind of technical discussion had probably provided Ambassador Trevor Clarke with some material to make suggestions on the way forward, including the five guiding principles outlined in paragraph 16 of his report (TN/IP/19).
13. With regard to the guiding principles, he was aware that, while all delegations agreed that they were a useful tool for their work, some opposed them as a basis for negotiations, and others said they should not be used as an excuse to continue rhetoric debates on well-known concepts such as "multilateral" or "to facilitate". With all this in mind, he proposed that for their future work Members continue to build on their achievements.
14. He therefore suggested:
(i) that Members continue to structure their work around the three clusters identified by Ambassador Manzoor Ahmad (paragraph 4 of TN/IP/18);
(ii) that, while doing that, Members continue to use Ambassador Trevor Clarke's list of questions on legal effects, participation and special and differential treatment (paragraph 5 of TN/IP/19); and
(iii) that, while discussing each issue, Members should seek to see how their concerns could be reconciled in the light of continuing explanations as to how Members would actually implement different options within their national systems, bearing in mind the guiding principles in TN/IP/19, without negotiating on those principles as such and recognizing that delegations might have some reservations on certain aspects of those principles.
15. In short, Members would continue with the three clusters of issues, using the four questions to focus the discussions, while bearing in mind the five guiding principles. He expressed his hope that this three-four-five approach would eventually end in one working document. To this end, time was needed to work through some specific questions. While it was up to the Members to consider how their concerns would best be met, he would encourage a focused exchange of questions and answers, in order to create the clearest and most informative basis from which to work. He suggested that the clusters of issues be taken one by one and that therefore the issue of legal effects/consequences of registrations be addressed first. As had been underlined by some delegations, this issue was crucial to the resolution of other issues, including participation.
16. The Chairman recalled the four questions posed by Ambassador Trevor Clarke:
"(i) What legal obligations would be acceptable for the Register to facilitate the protection of geographical indications for wines and spirits, as mandated by Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement?
(ii) When making decisions regarding the registration and protection of trademarks and geographical indications, what significance and weight should national authorities give to the information on the Register?
(iii) Are there any options regarding participation, other than voluntary and mandatory participation. If so, what criteria could be envisaged?
(iv) What form could special and differential treatment take with regard to the Register?"
17. On the subject of registration and notification, he said he would invite delegations who wished to add anything new under this cluster to do so.
