Minutes - TRIPS Council Special Session - View details of the intervention/statement

Ambassador D. Mwape (Zambia)
1 NEGOTIATION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM OF NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES AND SPIRITS
1.116. The representative of Ecuador recalled that the negotiation was about the establishment of a system of notification and registration of GIs for wines and spirits. For Ecuador, the adoption of unbalanced commitments in the intellectual property area would not be an option. Ecuador would have to assess the results in the intellectual property area that adequately reflected the fundamental principle underlying the Doha Round negotiations, i.e. the development dimension. Accordingly, any commitments emerging from the intellectual property negotiations should contain "plus" components for developing country Members, such as non mandatory participation in the system, and precise, effective and operational S&D provisions. The draft composite text contained proposals for such provisions. While they could indeed be improved, they tended to reflect the mandates set forth in paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration with respect to developing and least developed countries. As understood by his delegation, the proposed text contained binding provisions on transition periods for Members who opted to undertake commitments and would therefore be given time to adapt gradually to the new rules, as well as provisions on commitments to supply technical and/or financial assistance aimed at capacity-building and facilitating the use of a system of notification and registration of GIs for wines and spirits. His delegation urged all developing and developed country Members to examine the proposed texts on S&D to find common ground and common objectives. 1.117. He said that, for Ecuador, the final results reached in the negotiations of this Special Session would also depend on the assessment of the overall balance under the principle of the "single undertaking".
The Special Session took note of the statements made.
TN/IP/M/28