Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
first such review shall take place within two years of the entry into force of the
WTO Agreement.
2.86
A submission by Turkey of 9 July 1999, prior to the Seattle Ministerial,
proposed the extension of the multilateral register to products other than wines
and spirits. This proposal was endorsed by the African group of countries. In a
document of 6 August 1999 Kenya, on behalf of the African Group, noted that
at the Singapore Ministerial that the Art 23.4 negotiations concerning a
multilateral register for wines had been extended to include spirits and that:
Considering that Ministers made no distinction between the two above-mentioned
products, the African Group is of the view that the negotiations envisaged under Article
23.4 should be extended to other categories, and requests, in this regard, that the scope
of the system of notification and registration be expanded to other products recogniz-
able by their geographical origins (handicrafts, agro-food products).
40
2.87
At the TRIPS Council meetings in 2000 some misgivings were expressed by
some delegations about the extension of Art 23.1 protection and the multi-
lateral register beyond wines and spirits. The Chair of the TRIPS Council
sought to separate the discussion of Art 23.2 from that of Art 24.2 to avoid
confusion. A response to this suggestion was a proposal in October 2001 from
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Iceland, India, Kenya, Liechtenstein,
Pakistan, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Turkey that the extension of
GIs to products other than wines and spirits be included as an extension of the
built-in agenda.
41
2.88
Paragraph 18 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration adopted on 14 November
2001 noted 'that issues related to the extension of the protection of geographical
indications provided for in Article 23 to products other than wines and spirits
will be addressed in the Council for TRIPS pursuant to paragraph 12 of this
declaration'.
42
In para 39 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, Ministers
inter alia '[took] note of the work undertaken by the Director-General in his
consultative process on all outstanding implementation issues under paragraph
12(b) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, including on issues related to the
extension of the protection of geographical indications provided for in Art 23 to
products other than wines'.
40
Preparations for the 1999 Ministerial Conference the TRIPS Agreement Communication from Kenya on Behalf of the
African Group
, WTO Doc. WT/GC/W/302, 6 August 1999, paras 26-7.
41
WTO Doc IP/C/W/204/Rev.1, 2 October 2000.
42
WTO Doc WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, 20 November 2001.
