62. The representative of the Secretariat, elaborating on the provisions of the Bangui Agreement that formed the basis for the text of paragraph 33 of document IP/C/W/85, said that Article 2 of the Annex to the Bangui Agreement dealing with appellations of origin (Annex VI) stipulated that foreigners enjoyed the benefits of the provisions of that Annex if they met the conditions stipulated. Article 3(2) of the Annex laid down that foreign appellations of origin could only be registered by the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI) if this was foreseen by an international convention to which the member States were party or by the law implementing such a convention. Article 11(3) of the Bangui Agreement itself laid down that the international registration of an appellation of origin, effected by virtue of the provisions of the Lisbon Agreement and having effect in at least one member State, would have the same effects in each of the four States party to the Bangui Agreement which were party to the Lisbon Agreement as if the appellation had been registered with OAPI. As regards the question relating to paragraph 31 of document IP/C/W/85, he confirmed that it was also the Secretariat's understanding that the protection specified in the Bangui Agreement of an appellation of origin, filed directly under the Bangui Agreement, i.e. not by virtue of an international convention, once registered with OAPI, was not subject to a mechanism for the refusal of protection comparable to that applicable under the Lisbon Agreement (as described in paragraphs 20 and following of IP/C/W/85). In respect of the questions posed, reference should also be made to Articles 2(2) and 14 of the Bangui Agreement. According to Article 2(2), nationals were entitled to claim the application to their benefit of the provisions of the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention wherever these provisions were more favourable than those of the Bangui Agreement. According to Article 14, in case of divergence between the rules contained in the Bangui Agreement or its annexes and the rules contained in the international conventions to which the member States were party and which were administered by the International Bureau of WIPO, the latter prevailed.
