RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/107/Rev.1
22 June 2000
(00-2521)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 23.4 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT RELATING TO
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM OF NOTIFICATION AND
REGISTRATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
Communication from the European Communities and their member States
Revision1
By means of a communication, dated 20 June 2000, the following revised proposal for the
establishment of a multilateral register of geographical indications has been received from the
European Communities and their member States.
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BACKGROUND
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The EC is of the opinion that, in order to facilitate the protection of geographical indications,
it is necessary to pursue the negotiations on the establishment of a multilateral system of notification
and registration of geographical indications, hereafter referred to as the " multilateral register ".  Two
proposals were made respectively by the EC2 and the United States, Japan, Canada and Chile.3
2. The EC took note of the views expressed by WTO Members at previous meetings of the
TRIPS Council with regard to the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and
registration of geographical indications.  The EC has also taken note of the interests expressed by a
significant number of WTO Members with regard to the extension of the additional protection under
Article 23 to other products.  Nevertheless, the EC recalls its position that, in the presentcircumstances, the TRIPS Council is only mandated to establish a register for wines and spirits.
II. MAIN ELEMENTS OF A MULTILATERAL REGISTER
3. Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement was a major step forward for the protection of
geographical indications.  This improvement relates particularly to wines and spirits, which benefit
from an additional protection under Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement.  However, geographicalindications, compared to other intellectual property rights, such as patents or trademarks, are often
difficult to identify.
                                                     
1 The document in which the original proposal was circulated (IP/C/W/107) was entitled "Proposal for
a Multilateral Register of Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits Based on Article 23.4 of the TRIPSAgreement".
2 Document IP/C/W/107, dated 28 July 1998.
3 Document IP/C/W/133/Rev.1, dated 26 July 1999.IP/C/W/107/Rev.1
Page 2
4. The TRIPS Agreement provides for the possibility of preventing the use of a geographical
indication or a trademark for wines and spirits not originating in the place indicated by the
geographical indication.  In order to do so, it is necessary that geographical indications be identified
by a reliable and lasting multilateral source of information.  This source of information is foreseen by
Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement in the format of a register.  Such register should allow aparticipating Member to inform WTO Members of the geographical indications which are protected in
its territory.
5. The multilateral register for wines and spirits should facilitate not only the identification, but
also the protection of geographical indications in the territories of participating Members.  In that
respect, the register would only facilitate the application of existing obligations and thus make
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement operational.  The register should not,
however, require WTO Members to enact new domestic legislative or administrative structures andwould allow them to make use of existing structures  and facilities.  It would be without prejudice to
the rights and obligations of all WTO Members under the TRIPS Agreement.
6. The use of the information provided by a multilateral register for wines and spirits should
permit Members to protect geographical indications, at the request of a right holder, as provided for
under Article 23.1 of the TRIPS Agreement against their misuse.  In addition, it should helptrademark offices to make paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement operational by
providing them a list of geographical indications.  In that respect, a register is a useful tool to ensure
equality of treatment between national and foreign geographical indications, in addition to being a
practical instrument for importers, exporters, administrative and judicial authorities, producers and
consumers.
7. A multilateral register must be useful for all the Members and their administrations in order to
help them fulfil their obligations under section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement.  Such an
information system will have the advantage of transparency and legal certainty facilitating
international trade.  A multilateral register should be the right instrument to provide enough
transparent elements that can be used at the na tional level.  However, the implementation of the
TRIPS Agreement should not lead to the development of heavy and costly national registration
systems.
8. In that respect, an important issue is the examination and possible challenge by the Members
participating in the system.  It is likely that there are only limited cases where countries will have an
interest in the same specific geographical indications.  However, these cases exist and were the object
of discussions and comments for the creation of an "opposition procedure" and/or an ad hoc dispute
mechanism.
9. The European Communities and their member States have explored different kinds of systems
such as an experts committee, a mediation committee or recourse to dispute settlement or arbitration.
However, all these systems have shown, to some extent, advantages, but they also have their limits
and can be time-consuming and costly.  In addition, there are difficult legal issues of compatibility
with the WTO dispute settlement mechanism and enforcement by national courts.
10. In order to avoid these difficulties, the multilateral register for wines and spirits would
provide that, in case of disagreement on the protection of a particular geographical indication, it
should be solved by direct negotiations between the Members concerned.  This clause of negotiations
shall be understood as being strictly limited to the protection of individual geographical indications as
provided for in Articles 23.4 and 24.1 of the TRIPS Agreement.  Such a system would be simple andefficient, as it would only involve the parties concerned, who should communicate to the TRIPS
Council the results of their negotiations in line with Articles 24.2 and 68 of the TRIPS Agreement.
These negotiations would be without prejudice to the Members' rights under the WTO dispute
settlement mechanism.IP/C/W/107/Rev.1
Page 3
11. The above elements would ensure that an effective register is designed to the benefit of the
right holders and the consumers.  Such a multilateral register would be the basis that allows right
holders to benefit fully from the improvement of the TRIPS Agreement.  In addition, it must be
recalled that such a system must be designed in coherence with existing national systems, which are
the basis for enforcement of these rights.  However, implementation measures of the TRIPSAgreement should not be used to develop systems that tend to protect national markets, but should
facilitate international trade.
12. The attached revised proposal of the European Communities and their member States, which
takes full account of the preceding considerations, is submitted to the TRIPS Council for further
discussion.IP/C/W/107/Rev.1
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ATTACHMENT
REVISED PROPOSAL BY THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES
ESTABLISHMENT OF A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM OF NOTIFICATION AND
REGISTRATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
A. MEMBERS' PARTICIPATION IN THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM
1. All Members may participate in the multilateral system of notification and registration by
making a voluntary declaration to the Secretariat.
2. Having made such a declaration, Members shall apply the operating rules of the multilateral
system of notification and registration.
3. The participation or non-participation of Members in the multilateral system of notification
and registration shall be without prejudice to their rights and obligations under section 3 of Part II ofthe TRIPS Agreement, unless otherwise foreseen in this multilateral system.
B. NOTIFICATION AND PUBLICATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
1. A participating Member shall notify, without delay, the Secretariat its declaration of
participation in the system.
2. It shall notify all geographical indications which identify goods as originating in its territory,
corresponding to the definition in Article 22, paragraph 1 of the TRIPS Agreement.
3. Notification to the Secretariat shall be accompanied by copies of national legislative,
administrative or judicial decisions and, if necessary, bilateral, regional or multilateral agreements
indicating the date on which each geographical indication first received protection in the country of
origin.  Any time-limit on that protection and the type of product in question, as well as prima facieevidence of the geographical indication's conformity with the provisions of the Agreement, should
also be provided.
4. Each participating Member may provide any other information it considers useful for the
Agreement's implementation and for national application of the prohibition on the use of geographical
indications for non-originating products.
5. National provisions implementing the multilateral system of notification and registration shall
also be notified.
6. Each participating Member shall provide a contact point in its administration.
7. The geographical indications, notified by participating Members, shall be published as soon
as possible by the WTO Secretariat and notified to Members.
C. MULTILATERAL EXAMINATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL
 INDICATIONS PUBLISHED
1. Members may examine the published geographical indications.  They may send questions to
and ask for explanations from the participating Member in question within a period of 18 months
following publication by the Secretariat.IP/C/W/107/Rev.1
Page 5
2. Where a Member challenges, in a duly justified manner, the protection of an individual
geographical indication notified by another Member, these Members shall enter into negotiations,
within the period of 18 months, aimed at resolving the disagreement.
3. These provisions are without prejudice to the application of the WTO Dispute Settlement
Understanding.
D. REGISTRATION
1. Geographical indications, which have been notified and published, shall be registered within
18 months of publication.  Registration shall refer to any challenge under provision C.2.
2. In the case of homonymous geographical indications, each indication shall be registered
subject to the provisions of Article 22, paragraph 4 of the TRIPS Agreement.
3. Participating Members shall facilitate the protection of an individual registered geographical
indication by providing the legal means for interested parties to use the registration as a presumptionof the eligibility for the protection of the geographical indication.
4. Members who have not challenged, within 18 months, the registration of an individual
geographical indication under provision C.2 shall not refuse its protection on the basis of
Articles 22.1, 22.4 and 24.6 of the TRIPS Agreement.
5. The obligation to protect an individual geographical indication shall be suspended if the
geographical indication is not or ceases to be protected in its country of origin or has fallen into disuse
in that country.
6. The Secretariat shall publish the registered geographical indications and inform Members of
them.
E. UPDATING THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM
1. Participating Members shall notify the Secretariat of any additions or amendments to or
deletions from their initial notification of geographical indications.
2. The same examination and registration as well as publication procedures shall apply.
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