44. The Chairperson recalled that the Council had initiated in February 1997 preliminary work on issues relevant to the implementation of Article 23.4 of the Agreement, as specified in the Council's report (1996) (document IP/C/8). As a result, information on national registration systems, as provided by Members, was available in documents IP/C/W/76 and Addenda, and information on international notification and registration systems in a note prepared by the Secretariat in accordance with an outline agreed by the Council (IP/C/W/85). During informal consultations in February and May 1998, Members already had some discussion of what the next step should be for carrying forward work concerning negotiations for the establishment of an international system for the notification and registration of geographical indications under Article 23.4 as agreed in paragraph 34 of the report of the Council for TRIPS to the Singapore Ministerial Conference. He informed the Council that a proposal on the matter from the European Communities and their member States, communicated to the Secretariat and circulated informally to delegations just prior to the meeting, had been briefly discussed during the informal consultations that had preceded the present meeting.4
