Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
2.82
Ambassador Clarke's successor as Chairman of the Special Session of the
Council for TRIPS, Ambassador Darlington Mwape (Zambia) announced,
upon assuming this office, that the specific negotiating mandate of the Special
Session was limited to the negotiations of a Register of GIs for wines and
spirits. 35 Ambassador Mwape circulated a work programme suggesting a list of
'Possible Elements for Developing Texts' for the future Register. 36 Applying
this structure a drafting group developed a single draft composite text on the
Register. 37 Ambassador Mwape reported that despite the fact that this text
reflects the current state of negotiations in this negotiating group and represents
significant progress, views differ on whether or not it could be forwarded to the
Trade Negotiations Committee by Easter 2011, the deadline set by Pascal
Lamy, the Director General of the WTO, for the conclusion of the Doha
Round of negotiations. 38
Ambassador Mwape explained that:
2.83
I have made strenuous attempts to resolve this and have offered to use my prerogative as
Chair to improve textual compliance with the Special Session of the Council for TRIPS
mandate. However, Members have been unable to engage constructively on this
question and have instead insisted that the purely bottom-up and Member-driven
nature of the text be scrupulously respected at this time. 39
4. TRIPS revision
Article 24.1 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that WTO Members 'agree to
enter into negotiations aimed at increasing the protection of individual geo-
graphical indications under Article 23'. It also provides that the provisions of
paras 4 through 8 of Art 24 'shall not be used by a Member to refuse to conduct
negotiations or to conclude bilateral or multilateral agreements'. It concludes
with the observation that in the context of such negotiations, 'Members shall be
willing to consider the continued applicability of these provisions to individual
geographical indications whose use was the subject of such negotiations'.
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Article 24.2 requires the Council for TRIPS to keep under review the appli-
cation of the provisions of section 3 containing the GIs provisions and that the
2.85
35
Multilateral System of Notification and Registration of Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits,
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Darlington Mwape (Zambia), TN/IP/20, 22 March 2010, para 4.
36
See WTO Doc TN/IP/21, 21 April 2011.
37
That was circulated as JOB/IP/3 on 11 April 2011.
38
WTO Doc TN/IP/21, 21 April 2011, para 16.
39
Ibid.
 
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