124. The representative of Switzerland said that the fact that Article 23.4 required, on the one hand, the establishment of a multilateral system and, on the other hand, related to geographical indications "eligible for protection in those Members participating in the system" might seem contradictory at first sight. A closer look would show WTO Members' free choice to benefit from and to participate in the multilateral system, by notifying and registering their geographical indications. However, such a system made sense only if, once a geographical indication was registered in that multilateral system, the geographical indication was valid and binding on all WTO Members.
