RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/76/Add.5/Suppl.1
10September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3613)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS ONANY SYSTEMS FOR THE REGISTRATION
OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH THEY OPERATE
Communication from Switzerland
Supplement
Atitsmeeting of27February 1997, theCouncil forTRIPS agreed toinitiate preliminary work
onissues relevant tothenegotiations specified inArticle 23.4oftheTRIPS Agreement through an
information-gathering activity. Inthisconnection, theCouncil invited Members tosubmit information
onanysystems fortheregistration ofgeographical indications which theyoperate. Reference ismade
toparagraph 73ofdocument IP/C/M/12.
Thepresent document reproduces additional information received from Switzerland bya
communication from itsPermanent Mission, dated 2September 1997.
_______________
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS, IMPLEMENTATION OFARTICLE 23
OFTHE TRIPS AGREEMENT
Information ontheNational Protection System
Theensuing description issupplementary tothecommunication transmitted bySwitzerland
on8August 1997 inresponse totheTRIPS Council decision of27February 1997 concerning
Article 23.4 oftheTRIPS Agreement (seeSection I.B., paragraph 5,ofthatcommunication
("Geographical Indications forAgricultural Products andProcessed Agricultural Products")).
Protection ofspirits
1. Protection ofgeographical indications andappellations oforigin forspirits isdealtwithinthe
Swiss Federal LawontheImprovement ofAgriculture andPreservation ofFarming Populations
(RS910.1) (hereinafter, LawonAgriculture) andtheOrdinance of28May1997 concerning the
Protection ofAppellations ofOrigin andGeographical Indications withRespect toAgricultural Products
andProcessed Agricultural Products (RS910.12; RO1997 1188) (hereinafter, Ordinance).
2. TheOrdinance, issued onthebasis ofArticle 18(c) aswellasother provisions oftheLaw
onAgriculture, entered intoeffect on1July1997 andhastheobjective ofcreating aregister for
geographical names designating agricultural products. Itapplies toallagricultural products, processed
ornot,withtheexception ofwinebutincluding spirits. Theprincipal categories include: milkproducts,IP/C/W/76/Add.5/Suppl.1
Page2
meats, salted orpreserved meats, smoked products, fruits, vegetables, bakery products andspirits.
Foodstuff thatisnotanagricultural product (e.g., mineral water) isnotcovered bytheOrdinance.
3. Article 1callsfortheprotection ofappellations oforigin andgeographical indications for
agricultural products orprocessed agricultural products thatareregistered withthefederal authorities.
Registration hastheeffect ofreserving theuseofagiven geographical denomination forproducts
originating from aregion withcharacteristics which arelinked tothatregion.
4. "Appellationsd'origineprotégées"or"contrôlées"(AOP,AOC)and"indicationsgéographiques
protégées" (IGP) arenames ofregions orlocalities designating agricultural products thatpossess an
identity ormain characteristic determined bytheirgeographical origin. FortheAOP, allfabrication
steps (production, processing andpreparation) must occur within thedesignated geographical area
(Article 2).Theconnection between theproduct andthegeographical areaisweaker fortheIGPthan
fortheAOP as,forexample, itissufficient fortheIGPifoneofthefabrication steps occurs inthe
same geographical area(Article 3).
5. Generic names maynotberegistered asappellations oforigin orgeographical indications and,
likewise, these maynotbecome generic (Article 4).
6. Any group ofproducers working with thesame product (inother words which are
"representative" oftheproduct) mayfilearegistration application withtheFederal Office ofAgriculture
(Article 5).Producers ofagiven region must, therefore, create anassociation forthepurpose ofmaking
anapplication fortheregistration oftheirproduct. TheOrdinance requires that,among other things,
theydefine theirproduct, describe themethod ofobtaining itandsetforththelimits ofthegeographical
areainaspecification. Thisspecification willbecome binding onallproducers whowishtoutilize
aparticular geographical indication (Article 7).Inaddition tothespecification, theapplication for
registration mustcontain theelements justifying theconnection between theproduct andtherelevant
geographical area(Article 6).
7. AnyuserofanAOPorIGPmustentrust acertification bodywiththecontrol oftheproduction,
processing andpreparation oftheproduct (Article 18).Thecertification body mustbeaccredited in
accordance withtheOrdinance of17June1996onAccreditation andDesignation ofTestLaboratories
andBodies forConformity Assessment, Registration andApproval (RS946.512; RO1996 1904),
which refers totheEuropean norm SNEN45011 (Article 19).
8. Theregistration procedure isbased onasystem ofopposition. After consulting theCommission
oftheAOP andIGP,aswellasthefederal andcantonal authorities concerned, theFederal Office of
Agriculture willeither accept orreject agiven application. Ifanapplication isapproved, itispublished
togetherwiththemainelementsofthespecificationinthe"Feuilleofficiellesuisseducommerce"(FOSC)
(Swiss official trade gazette) (Articles 8and9).Oppositions totheregistration maybemade within
three months fromthepublication date(Article 10).Oppositions aredealtwithbytheFederal Office
ofAgriculture. Appeals against theOffice 'sdecisions arehandled, inthefirstinstance, bytheAppeal
Board oftheFederal Department ofPublic Economy, and,inthesecond andlastinstance, bytheFederal
Tribunal.
Thefollowing mayconstitute good grounds foropposition:
- thedenomination doesnotfulfil therequirements ofanAOP oranIGP;
- thedenomination isgeneric;
- theassociation applying fortheregistration isnot"representative" oftheproduct;IP/C/W/76/Add.5/Suppl.1
Page3
- theproposed registration would jeopardize atrademark oradenomination which is
entirely orpartly homonymous, known orofrepute andutilized foralongtime
(Article 10(3)).
TheFederal Office ofAgriculture willproceed further withtheregistration ofadenomination provided
thatthere isnoopposition toitorthatanyopposition made hasbeenrejected. Theregistration of
thedenomination isthereafter published inFOSC (Article 12).
9. Theregistration hasimportant legalconsequences withrespect totherights ofproducers and
thetypeofprotection granted. Ontheonehand, alltheproducers oftherelevant geographical area
whofulfiltheconditions ofthespecification mayusetheregistered denomination; ontheother hand,
theregistered denomination is,itself, protected against theriskofmisappropriation ("usurpation") and
imitation aswellasagainst anypractice likely tomislead theconsumer (Article 17). Sanctions for
thewrongful useofprotected denominations areimprisonment ofuptooneyearorafineofupto
SwF100,000 (Article 112(b) oftheLawonAgriculture).
10. Attention isdrawn tothefactthatgeographical indications thatarenotregistered under the
Ordinance continue tobeprotected under therelevant provisions onthe"indications deprovenance"
oftheFederal LawontheProtection ofTrademarks andIndications ofSource (RS232.11).