. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/IP/14 
23 November 2005 
 
 (05-5543) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Special Session  
 
  
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL FOR TRIPS 
 
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador Manzoor Ahmad,
 
to the Trade Negotiations Committee  
   1. This report on the negotiations on the establis hment of a multilateral system of notification 
and registration of geographical indications for wine s and spirits is submitted on the Chairman's own 
responsibility and is without prejudice to the position  of any delegation and to the outcome of the 
negotiations. 
2. Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement provides that 
"[i]n order to facilitate the protection of geographical indications for wines, 
negotiations shall be undertaken in the Council for TRIPS concerning the 
establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical 
indications for wines eligible for protection in those Members participating in the system." 
The mandate of the Special Session is set out in the first sentence of paragraph 18 of the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration, which reads as follows: 
"18. With a view to completing the work started in the Council for Trade-Related 
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Council for TRIPS) on the implementation of Article 23.4, we agree to negotiate the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits by the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference." 
In respect of the Special Session's and of certain  other areas of negotiations, paragraph f of the 
General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 (WT/L/579) provides that 
"... [t]he [General] Council reaffirms Members' commitment to progress in all of 
these areas of the negotiations in line with the Doha mandates." 
3. Since the Fifth Ministerial Conference in 2003, the Special Session has held eight meetings:  
on 7 April, 18 June, 23 September, 30 November  2004, and on 11 March, 16-17 June, 16 September 
and 27 October 2005.  The Chairman has also held a number of informal consultations, either in an 
open-ended mode or in other formats.  The minutes of the formal meetings are contained in document 
series TN/IP/M/-. TN/IP/14 
Page 2  
 
 4. The work of the Special Session this year has been characterized by an enhanced level of 
activity, with the tabling of submissions spelling out  in legal form proposals for a multilateral system.  
A detailed and useful discussion of the issues and proposals has taken place, with an exchange of 
questions and answers on many specific points.  This has been aided by document TN/IP/W/12, 
prepared by the Secretariat, which sets out side by side the elements of the three proposals tabled that, 
in the view of the proponents of each proposal, are relevant to the mandate of the Special Session:  
Hong Kong, China's proposal, contained in Annex A of  TN/IP/W/8;  the Joint Proposal of Argentina, 
Australia, Canada, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecua dor, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, 
Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Chinese Taipei and the United States in TN/IP/W/10 and Add.1;  
and the European Communities' proposal, contained in the Annex set out in TN/IP/W/11. 
5. Despite the active engagement of delegations a nd the detailed discussion of the proposals, it is 
a matter of concern that the level of convergen ce in these negotiations has not significantly expanded 
in the period since the last Ministerial Conference.  In particular, important differences remain on two key issues: 
- the extent to which legal effects at the national level should be consequent on the 
registration of a geographical indication for a wine or a spirit in the system;  and 
- the question of participation, including whether any legal effects under the system 
should apply in all WTO Members or only in those opting to participate in the system. 
6. Further work is also required on a range of ot her points, including on questions of costs and 
administrative burdens for WTO Members, in particul ar for developing countries.  It will be difficult 
to make major headway on these issues, together with other details of the mechanism to be 
established, without greater convergence on the two key issues mentioned above.  Some delegations 
have indicated that it would help the process if Ministers could provide guidance at the Sixth Ministerial Conference on how and where this conve rgence could be found, since in their view the 
Special Session's mandate is not specific enough to de termine the issue.  Some other delegations have 
opposed this on the ground that the existing manda te in Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement and 
paragraph 18 of the Doha Ministerial Declara tion is clear and that convergence should be found 
within the existing mandate. 
7. On the basis of the consultations held, it is the Chairman's understanding that the points on 
which there is general support for recommendations to  the TNC at this stage are that, at the Sixth 
Ministerial Conference, Ministers take note of the re port of the Chairman of the Special Session of the 
Council for TRIPS setting out the progress in the ne gotiations on the establishment of a multilateral 
system of notification and registration of geographi cal indications for wines and spirits, as mandated 
in Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement and para graph 18 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, 
(document TN/IP/14) and agree to intensify these nego tiations in order to complete them within the 
overall time-frame for the conclusion of the negotiations  foreseen in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. 
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