The Chairman of the Special Session of the TRIPS Council circulated on his own responsibility a document number (TN/IP/19) in its meeting held on November 25, 2009. This document summarizes the progress so far in the negotiations concerning the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration ("Register") of geographical indications for wines and spirits. It also provides five guiding principles on how to push the negotiations forward in the coming period as follows:
1 - The purpose of the Register is to facilitate and not to increase the current level of protection.
2 - Registry should be accurate and reliable source of information where the primary responsibility rests on the notifying member so that members may be reliably take into account in their legal systems.
3 – The territoriality nature of intellectual property rights should be respected so that these rights, including GIs or the trademarks, are not binding for any given country unless they are being registered in that particular country.
4 - The Register should not constitute any financial or administrative burdens on members, though some administrative and financial burdens may be necessary for its implementation, and they should be proportionate to the use and benefits of record by members.
5 - Special and differential treatment should be granted to developing and least developed countries, including those seeking to benefit from participating in the system.
