TN/IP/25  
 
27 November 2017 
(17-6490) Page: 1/2 
Council for Trade -Related Aspects of  
Intellectual Property Rights  
Special Session    
 
MULTILATERAL SYSTEM OF NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION OF GEOG RAPHICAL 
INDICATIONS FOR WINE S AND SPIRITS  
REPORT BY THE CHAIRM AN, AMBASSADOR DACIO CASTILLO (HONDURAS ) 
1.  This report on the negotiations on the establishment of a multilateral system of notificatio n and 
registration of geographical indications (GIs) for wines and spirits (" GI Register") in the Special 
Session of the Council for TRIPS is submitted on my own responsibility and is without prejudice to 
the positions of delegations and to the outcome of the negotiations.  
2.  There has only been limited activity in the context of the TRIPS Special Session s ince my last 
written report circulated on 7 December 2016  as document TN/IP/2 4, and I have not detected any 
substantial developments in Members' approach es to the substance or the process of the GI 
Register negotiations  in that period . 
3.  Since the beginning of the year , I have held a number of informal conversations with individual 
delegations . Following the Director General's call in September 2017 for a "mome nt of truth", in 
which Members should decide what can – and what cannot – be achieved at Buenos Aires, 
the TRIPS Special Session, on 18 October, held its first formal meeting since 2014. The purpose of 
that formal meeting was to provide an opportunity for delegations to put their views on record 
ahead of the 11th Ministerial Conference  (MC11) . 
4.  At that meeting, as had been foreshadowed in informal group consultations, I encouraged 
delegations to respond to two questions : 
a. What role do delegation s see for the work of the TRIPS Special Session in 
the preparations for the Buenos Aires Ministerial Conference; and  
b. How do delegations see the GI Register negotiations continuing after MC11.  
5.  In response, delegations largely reiterated known positions and showed little appetite to raise 
the profile of the GI negotiations at MC11. The supporters of the modalities proposal in TN/C/W/52 
emphasized the importance they attached to parallel progress on all three TRIPS issues, includi ng 
the GI Register negotiations.  Some delega tions referred to GI-related developments in WIPO and 
many bilateral agreements as evidence of an "emerging global consensus" on the importance of 
GIs in and outside the WTO. The LDC Group indicated that it was in internal deliberations on 
whether to join the W/52 coalition.  
6.  At the same time, these delegations saw the current negotiating environment as not conducive 
to substantive engagement , and felt that in the absence of a general negotiating momentum there 
was no urgency, and thus no need to raise the p rofile of GI negotiations at the Buenos Aires  
Ministerial Conference . Beyond MC11, these delegations reiterated their demand for parallel 
progress on all three TRIPS issues , and some indicated that they would take the necessary 
initiatives to keep these i ssues on the table in the WTO.  
7.  The delegations supporting the Joint Proposal TN/IP/W/10/Rev.4  reiterated their view that 
the long-standing divergence of views in this area, and the demandeur s' disregard for 
the mandate, made it unlikely that further work co uld yield results by MC11. Most delegations 
were nevertheless open to continued work in the Special Session after MC11, as long as it TN/IP/25  
 
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  respected th e mandate  limited to a register for wine and spirit GIs . One delegation in this group 
opposed  any intensificat ion of work  and discounted  any likelihood of consensual outcomes in 
the TRIPS Special Session.  
8.  In light of the above, it is my assessment that the situation has not evolved since my last 
report in December 2016. While  GIs have been an area of considerable activity in bilateral and 
regional contexts  in recent years , that momentum has not translated into substantive engagement 
in this negotiating group , which has not engaged in the substance of its mandated work on 
a GI Register for wine and spirit GIs si nce several years now.  
9.  The traditional differences on the substance a nd the scope of the negotiation  mandate for 
the TRIPS Special Session continue to dominate the occasional  exchanges between the two 
groups . While the supporters of the TN/C/W/52 modalities ap pear to have rallied to confirm their 
commitment to keeping the TRIPS issues alive and on the table after MC11, they showed no 
immediate ambition to raise these topics at Buenos Aires and have made no proposal s for 
ministerial action in this regard. The Jo int Proposal Group, while not considering themselves 
demandeurs  in this negotiation, have – for the most part – signalled their openness to continue 
the mandated work of the Special Session aft er the Ministerial Conference.  
10.  Against this background, while i t is clear that the negotiations in the TRIPS Special Session 
are not currently a priority for delegations, it seems likely that a number of Members would wish 
to have the future continuation of this work reflected in any outcome of 
the 11th Ministerial  Conference.  
 
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