79. The representative of the Philippines also commended the Chair for the Draft Text. Obviously it incorporated elements which were problematic for several Members, including the Philippines, but this was necessitated by the need to accommodate a broad platform of elements as a starting point for negotiations. He looked forward to pruning it down to a framework which met the mandate of Article 23.4 in a more precise fashion. He further said that the mandate referred to the establishment of a multilateral system and Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement unequivocally referred to "protection in those Members participating in the system". His delegation had always thought that it was clearly understood by all delegations that, while every Member had a right to contribute to the negotiations leading to the establishment of such a system, the system need not necessarily result in all Members, whether they chose to participate or not, acquiring or suffering, as the case may be, the same rights and obligations as each and every other Member. In other words, the phrase "protection in those Members participating in the system" should be interpreted as offering some sort of carve-out for Members which chose not to participate — probably because they were non-wine producing and therefore did not have anything to submit for protection — and acquire rights. Conversely and more importantly for such non-participating Members, the carve-out should also result in such Members not assuming obligations similar to those obligations assumed by Members participating in and acquiring rights under the system. However, based on the proponent's suggestions which had been incorporated in the Draft Text, it would appear that this would not be the case: the legal consequences on non-participating Members were not substantively differentiated from those on participating Members. If this were the case, the value of a voluntary system as espoused by most developing countries, especially those which might not have that much to gain from the system by participation, would be virtually null and illusionary. Indeed, while the Philippines welcomed the notion suggested by the delegation from Djibouti regarding the provision of technical assistance, at the end of the day, what would result from such technical assistance would be an increased understanding that non-wine producing countries would have no rights but only obligations.
