26. The representative of Australia disagreed with previous speakers that the Chairperson should proceed with the tabling of a common negotiating text because they thought that discussions had been completed. For his delegation, to say that the Special Session had finished exploring all issues was factually wrong; the process of negotiation was not over. The main difference between these negotiations and those on agriculture was that Members had explicitly agreed last year that the Chairperson of the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture would come forward with a paper. Nothing of this kind had been agreed by the Special Session of the TRIPS Council. He was not foreclosing the possibility of a paper by the Chairperson, and was only questioning that it was the appropriate time for such a paper. He hoped that the Secretariat would establish a revised version of the compilation to take into account his delegation's concerns about the mandate: in other words, the revised text should not contain any reference to products other than wines and spirits as far as the mandate of negotiation was concerned.
