2nd November 2005

GI TALKS GOING IN CIRCLES; EU MAKES GI EXTENSION HONG KONG PRIORITY

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The Special Session of the WTO Council on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) met on 27 October to discuss the creation of a multilateral register for the notification and registration of geographical indications (GIs) for wines and spirits.

A separate set of informal consultations had been held the day before, during which Members discussed whether the protection of GIs currently available to wines and spirits such as Champagne should be extended to other products. The EU, Switzerland and a number of developing countries have been pushing for ‘GI extension,’ in opposition to the US, Australia and other ‘New World’ countries that are net agricultural exporters as well as frequent users of ‘Old World’ GIs for their own food products. No consensus was reached during the meeting.

The Special Session on the wine and spirits register saw no real headway on the issue, although Members did discuss the WTO Secretariat’s side-by-side presentation of their proposals (TN/IP/W/12) at length. Countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the US have argued for a voluntary GI register that would essentially function like a searchable database, with enforcement grounded in national law. The EU wants registered terms to be protected in all WTO Member states, including those not participating in the register.

The EU’s 28 October offer to cut farm tariffs in the Doha Round negotiations was explicitly conditional on the extension of binding GI protection to all products. The EU wants to establish a multilateral register for these GIs, and to get other countries to stop allowing the use of a ‘limited number’ of well-known European GIs (see related article, this issue).

ICTSD reporting.