1.101. The representative of Barbados said that, with regard to participation, the system to be established would actually facilitate the protection of GIs by providing information to Members on whether, for example, a trademark contained, or consisted of, a GI for a wine or a spirit. This information was intended to, and should, assist Members in complying with their obligations under Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement. Thus, regardless of the language contained in Article 23.4 of the Agreement, her delegation supported the establishment of a system of notification and registration in which all WTO Members would participate.
1.102. Turning to the scope of the system, her delegation acknowledged that the mandate contained in Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement and paragraph 18 of the Doha Declaration made provision for negotiations on the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits. Should there be agreement among Members to extend Article 23 protection to all goods, consideration should be given to widening the scope of the register to include all products in order to facilitate their protection.
1.103. On legal effects, her delegation believed that there was greater consensus on this issue than appeared at first sight. Members would consult the register and take the information on GIs into account. This information could influence, but need not determine, the outcome of a decision-making process to, for example, register a trademark consisting of, or containing, a GI. Her delegation therefore supported the approach that Members should take into account the information in the register in their decision-making processes, as well as the rebuttable presumption that terms in the register met the definition in Article 22.1 of the TRIPS Agreement. This definition should be the same in all WTO Members.
1.104. With respect to S&D, she said that, since the register was expected to facilitate the protection of GIs not only from developed but also from developing countries, it would be necessary to provide S&D in the form of technical and financial assistance to, and reasonable transitional time periods for, developing countries, as appropriate.
1.105. Finally, on the issue of fees and costs, her delegation noted that in Section E.2 of the composite text there was a proposal that registrations be "subject to the payment of the requisite fee". Her delegation was of the view that, should there be consensus on this proposal, the fee system should not be based on per capita income, as such a system would discriminate against Barbados and other high income vulnerable economies in the Caribbean.
