RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONIP/C/W/133
11 March 1999
(99-0978)
Council for Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property RightsOriginal:  English
PROPOSAL FOR A MULTILATERAL SYSTEM FOR NOTIFICATION AND
REGISTRATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES AND
SPIRITS BASED ON ARTICLE 23.4 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
Communication from Japan and the United States
The following proposal for a multilateral system for notification and registration of
geographical indications for wines and spirits based on Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement has been
received from the delegations of Japan and the United States, on 17 February 1999.
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Introduction
Article 23.41 of the TRIPS Agreement calls for negotiations to be undertaken in the TRIPS
Council aimed at establishing a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical
indications for wines eligible for protection in the territory of WTO Members participating in the
system.  The paragraph makes clear that the purpose of the system is to facilitate the protection of
geographical indications for wines under Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement.  The Singapore
Ministerial Declaration extended the scope of preliminary work to include issues relevant to a
notification and registration system for spirits.2
The European Communities submitted to the TRIPS Council, in July 1998, a proposal for a
multilateral register of geographical indications for wines and spirits with the aim of "providing
substantial momentum for the negotiations".  That proposal has been discussed in detail at the
September and December 1998 meetings of the TRIPS Council.  Many WTO Members have
expressed concerns regarding the EC's proposal, inter alia  regarding the likelihood that the proposal
would change the obligations of WTO Member s under the TRIPS Agreement, would not be
voluntary, and would impose burdensome and costly procedural requirements on both the WTO
Secretariat and on WTO Members.
During the September and December discussions, the United States representative noted that
the purpose of any system established under Article 23.4 is to facilitate protection of geographical
indications for wines and spirits under Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement.  Both Japan and
the United States expressed the view that any system that might be developed should not establish
new obligations or diminish the rights and obligations contained in Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS
Agreement;  should accommodate the various systems for protection of geographical indications
                                                     
1 Article 23.4 states:  "In 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."
2 Ministers agreed that " … the Council will initiate … preliminary work on issues relevant to the
negotiations specified in Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement … for wines.  Issues relevant to a notificationand registration system for spirits will be part of this preliminary work."IP/C/W/133
Page 2
existing in all WTO Members' legal regimes;  should not impose undue burdens or costs on the WTO
Secretariat;  and should be voluntary and non-burdensome for the WTO Members choosing to
participate.  Finally, both Japan and the United States asserted that any system of notification and
registration should involve the voluntary submission  of information to the Secretariat and that such
information should be made available for WTO Members' use.  Many other WTO Members identifiedsimilar criteria as reflecting the intent of Article 23.4.
Reasons for Proposal
In order to further development of a system that meets each of the identified criteria, Japan
and the United States propose the following system for notification and registration of geographical
indications for wines and spirits eligible for protection in participating WTO Members' territories.We believe that this system fulfils each of the criteria that Japan and the United States and other WTO
Members have identified as appropriate for the system of notification and registration to be negotiated
under Article 23.4.
• The proposed system will simply facilitate the protection of geographical indications
for participating WTO Members.
• The proposed system will not impose substantive obligations regarding protection of
geographical indications beyond those currently set out in Section 3 of Part II of the
TRIPS Agreement.
• The proposed system will allow voluntary participation, as reflected by the words in
Article 23.4, "in those Members participating in the system".  A WTO Member is not
required to participate in this system to obtain full protection under the TRIPS
Agreement for its geographical indications for wines and spirits.
• The proposed system will recognize and accommodate the various regimes of WTO
Members for protection of geographical indications described in the responses to the
Article 24.2 questionnaire, if those regimes are consistent with the TRIPS Agreement.
• The proposed system will be simple and not costly for those choosing to participate.
• The proposed system will allow participating WTO Members and others to use
information submitted without undue burden or cost.
• The proposed system will not impose undue administrative burdens and costs on the
WTO Secretariat.IP/C/W/133
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MULTILATERAL SYSTEM FOR NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION
OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES AND SPIRITS
ESTABLISHED UNDER ARTICLE 23.4 OF THE TRIPS AGREEMENT
1. Notification
WTO Members wishing to participate in the system may submit3 to the Secretariat a list of
domestic geographical indications for wines and for spirits recognized as eligible for protection under
their national legislation, indicating for each indication the date, if any, on which protection will
expire.
In the interests of transparency and to ease use of the register by other WTO Members
participating in other multilateral agreements for the protection of geographical indications, those
WTO Members participating in such agreements must indicate the other multilateral agreements
under which each of the notified geographical indications is protected.
Subsequent notifications shall include only additional domestic geographical indications
eligible for protection under a WTO Member's national legislation and any previously notified
geographical indication no longer eligible for such protection.
To minimize the administrative burden on the WTO Secretariat, notifications shall be made
[semi-annually][annually].
WTO Members may decide to participate or discontinue participation in the system at any
time.
2. Registration
Following receipt of notifications, the Secretariat shall compile a database of all notified
geographical indications for wines and for spirits.4  Copies of the lists of notified geographical
indications shall be distributed to all WTO Members.  In accordance with Article 23.3, the same or
similar geographical indication may be submitted by more than one WTO Member, provided the
geographical indication is recognized by each notifying WTO Member in accordance with its nationalregime for protecting geographical indications.  The li sts shall indicate with respect to each indication
the WTO Member that notified the indication;  the expiration date of protection, if any;  and any other
multilateral agreement for geographical indications under which the indication is protected.  To
ensure maximum transparency, the Secretariat shall, in addition to distributing copies of the lists to
WTO Members, make the lists accessible on the WTO's Internet Web Site (www.wto.org).
After the initial notification, the WTO Secretariat shall revise the database of notified
geographical indications for wines and for spirits, adding or deleting indications in accordance with
WTO Members' notifications.
3. Legal Effects under National Legislation
WTO Members choosing to participate in the system will agree to refer to, along with other
sources of information, the WTO lists of notified geographical indications for wines and for spirits
when making decisions to register geographical indications for wines and spirits as collective marks
                                                     
3 The format for submissions shall be established through negotiations or, if the WTO Members so
agree, by the Secretariat.
4 The Secretariat shall have no discretion to dec line to accept a geographical indication notified by a
WTO Member.IP/C/W/133
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or certification marks under their trademark syst ems, or otherwise to extend protection for
geographical indications for wines and spirits in accordance with their national legislation.
Information obtained from the WTO lists would be considered in making those decisions in
accordance with that national legislation.
WTO Members not participating in the system wi ll be encouraged to refer to the WTO lists,
along with other sources of information, in making similar decisions under their national legislation in
order to base such decisions on the most complete information available.
Appeals from, or objections to, any decisions granting or rejecting protection for particular
geographical indications, whether notified to the WTO or not, shall occur at the national level at the
request of appropriate interested parties in accordance with each WTO Member's national legislation.Should any appeal or objection result in a final decision that a domestic geographical indication for
wines or spirits is ineligible for protection within the notifying WTO Member's territory, that WTO
Member shall so notify the WTO Secretariat during the subsequent notification period.
Any geographical indication for wines or spirits established in accordance with national
legislation is entitled to protection under Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement, whether or not
it is registered in the WTO database.
4. Review
The TRIPS Council shall conduct a review of the operation of the multilateral system for
notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits two years after
establishment to determine its effectiveness in assisting participating WTO Members in protecting
geographical indications for wines and spirits in accordance with Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS
Agreement.
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