Compte rendu ‒ Conseil des ADPIC ‒ Afficher les détails de l'intervention/la déclaration

Ambassador Eduardo Pérez Motta (Mexico)
D ISSUES RELATED TO THE EXTENSION OF THE PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 23 TO PRODUCTS OTHER THAN WINES AND SPIRITS
201. The representative of Australia believed that it was unhelpful for the EC delegate to assert that those who talked about the experiences of their bilateral agreements on wine were in some way seeking to pollute the present discussion or to divert attention away from what the Council was doing. He thought that it was those who had had experiences with bilateral wine agreements who could best appreciate exactly what the implications were of what the demandeurs, such as the European Communities, were seeking to achieve in the extension debate. It was necessary to know the costs of implementation, the costs of disputation, the implications of protectionism, and that was why they had been seeking to contribute to the discussion in this Council of the broader implications of extension. A number of developing countries would like to see a relatively small number of their GIs protected, and one could clearly understand that they would feel some degree of envy that it could be done on wines and spirits but not in relation to other products. But he still thought that there was a significant lack of understanding and appreciation of the very significant costs that were going to be involved in this higher level of protection. Therefore, he thought that the remark that Members should not discuss their bilateral experiences was quite unreasonable, and it did not benefit the discussion within the Council on this issue. Australia was very conscious that there was already considerable concern among developing countries about the TRIPS Agreement and its costs. He did not think they realized just what the costs were going to be if they got into the kind of registration system that the European Communities was seeking to establish, not only on wine but on all other food products.
IP/C/M/38