62. The representative of Turkey said that her delegation had already provided responses to the Checklist but would provide more comprehensive responses shortly. She said that Turkey's geographical signs protection system was fully compatible with the relevant Section of the TRIPS Agreement. The Decree Law No. 555 pertaining to the Protection of Geographical Signs had entered into force on 27 June 1995 and intended to establish a functional system which met the demands and realities of Turkey, compatible with the TRIPS Agreement and, because of the customs union it had entered into with the European Union, with European Communities Directives and Regulations. It included the following provisions: protection of designations of origin and geographical indications; publication of the applications; opposition by all interested parties; inspection (control) mechanisms for the production of the related goods; relationship with trademarks; compensation for damages; and the establishment of special courts. The protection of geographical signs under this law aimed to protect natural, agricultural, mining and industrial products and handicrafts under geographical signs, when they were in conformity with the definition of a designation of origin or a geographical indication. Protection provided by the Decree Law was effective on registration. She emphasized, as her delegation had done in its non-paper circulated to Members in informal document No. 1076/Rev.1 of 30 March 1998, the importance of the extension of the additional protection which was available for geographical indications for wines and spirits to all other goods such as natural, agricultural, mining and industrial products and handicrafts. Furthermore, she hoped that very soon an exercise could be initiated to extend the negotiating mandate on a multilateral register to include all sorts of goods capable of being identified by their geographical origin as this was important for the development of local producers and industries.
