19. The representative of Hungary said that paragraph 18 of the Doha Declaration set the Fifth Ministerial as the deadline for establishing the multilateral system of notification and registration for geographical indications under Article 23.4. The conclusion of the negotiations, which, in the view of his delegation, was an important part of the ongoing process of agricultural reform, was long overdue. Against that background, his delegation wished to echo the call on Members to table their main proposals well in advance of the September meeting so that a realistic chance remained for the Council to meet the deadline. Referring to the statement by Argentina on whether the scope of the register should cover spirits in addition to wines, he said that he did not see any problem in that area. Paragraph 18 of the Doha Declaration usefully made it clear that spirits, in addition to wines, were to be covered in the system. He asked whether Argentina would have similar concerns with respect to the agriculture mandate in the Doha Declaration that usefully complemented Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture. He said that the same argumentation could be made and Members should not lose sight of the fact that the issues on the agenda were not new. They had been negotiating the establishment of that system for over five years. There were concrete proposals on the table, including from his delegation. The exercise should not be confused with the ongoing Article 24.2 review in the regular session of the TRIPS Council. Regarding document TN/IP/W/3, Hungary concurred with the statement made by the EC.
