. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/IP/7
4 July 2003
(03-3605)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property RightsSpecial Session
SEVENTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Eui-yong Chung,
to the Trade Negotiations Committee
I. STATUS OF WORK
1. The Special Session of the Council for TRIPS held its seventh meeting on 2 and 3 July 2003
on the basis of the agenda set out in WTO/AIR/2123.  The agenda items were:  negotiation of the
establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications forwines and spirits;  observer status for intergovernmental organizations;  and other business.
2. With regard to the first item of the agenda, there were the following new documents:
TN/IP/W/7/Rev.1 and Corr.1 (revised version of the Secretariat compilation of issues and points);
TN/IP/M/6 (minutes of the April meeting);  and JOB(03)/123 (non-paper from the European
Communities on legal effects).
3. The Chairman first recalled the hope he had expressed in April that by the seventh Session
Members would be able to consider a text with a single set of ideas rather than a text with widely
divergent proposals.  However, as he had already informed delegations, based on the consultations he
had held since the April meeting, it was his appreciation that, in the light of the current state of the
negotiations in the Special Session and of the Doha Development Agenda as a whole, delegations did
not as yet feel in a position to be sufficiently flexible in their positions on the key issues of legal
effects and participation to warrant him tabling a ne w draft text at this stage.  At this Session, a
number of general comments were offered, in particular on what was required to fulfil the mandate,
such as in regard to the legal effects of a registration and participation, and on the way forward.  In
addition, some comments additional to those at the April meeting were made on the Chairman's Draft
Text of Multilateral System of Notification and Registration of Geographical Indications for Wines
and Spirits (JOB(03)/75).  The International Bureau of WIPO was invited to be represented in anexpert capacity for the discussion under the first agenda item.
4. Under "Other business", the Special Session examined the draft report to be submitted by the
Chair on his own responsibility to the TNC meeting of 14-15 July 2003.
5. With regard to observer status for intergovernmental organizations, there were no
developments.
II. OUTSTANDING ISSUES
6. Positions continue to be quite divided.  Issues where differences are still profound are:  the
legal effect of registrations;  international mechan isms for settling differences regarding geographical
indications;  and participation.TN/IP/7
Page 2
III. FUTURE WORK
7. Recalling the Doha mandate to complete the negotiation of the establishment of a multilateral
system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits by the Cancun
Ministerial Conference, the Chairman expressed the view that, given the current status of the
negotiations, it would be necessary to provide for the continuation of the negotiating process in theremaining period before Cancun.  In this regard, he referred to the coming meetings of the TNC and
the General Council in July, which would deal with the further work required in the run-up to Cancun.
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