VZCZCXRO9080
PP RUEHAG RUEHAP RUEHDE RUEHDF RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHMR
RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHRN
DE RUEHRO #0323 0461540
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151540Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7202
INFO RUCNWTO/WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC PRIORITY 4406
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY 4484

UNCLAS ROME 000323 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USEU FOR DAN MULLANEY 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USTR 
USDA/FAS FOR RCURTIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EUN WTRO ECON ETRD EAGR IT
SUBJECT: GOI WILL WORK TOWARDS DOHA SUCCESS SO LONG AS 
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS ARE INCLUDED 
 
REF: A. STATE 15811 
     ¶B. 2006 ROME 2877 
     ¶C. 2005 ROME 4186 
     ¶D. 2005 ROME 3845 
 
¶1.  (SBU)   Summary.  Econoff delivered ref A non-paper on 
the Doha Round negotiations and the President's January 31 
speech on the state of the economy to the Ministry of Foreign 
Trade.  Ministry officials agreed the time is ripe for 
progress in the Doha Round, and expressed hope progress 
before end-March will encourage Congress to speed Trade 
Promotion Authority (TPA) renewal and "set a new pace" for 
Doha Round negotiations.  Ministry officials noted 
geographical indications (GIs) remain a priority issue for 
the GOI and that the GOI views progress on GIs as essential 
to offset concessions on agriculture market access and 
agricultural subsidies.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On February 9, Econoff delivered ref A talking 
points on the Doha Round and a copy of President Bush's 
January 31 speech on the state of the economy to Amadeo Teti, 
Ministry of Foreign Trade Director General for Trade, and 
Stefano Santacroce, a technical expert in the Trade 
Directorate.  Teti agreed the time is ripe for progress in 
the Round, and said the GOI would open its agricultural 
markets and work with other EU members to cut 
trade-distorting agricultural supports and lower agricultural 
tariffs, if there is progress in the services and 
non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations.  Teti 
predicted that EU Trade Commissioner Mandelson would receive 
increased flexibility in his negotiating mandate at an EU 
Trade Ministers dinner held in mid-February. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Teti said that "I have one prayer for this round, 
an agreement on geographical indications,"  and that an 
agreement on a registry of geographical indications is an 
essential "win" for the GOI to offset "losses" on lower 
agricultural subsidies and lower tariffs.  "Our farmers can 
compete," said Teti, "but they need to have a registry of GIs 
to protect their products."  He reported that Trade Minister 
Bonino was "very pessimistic" regarding an agreement on GIs 
after her recent meeting with USTR Schwab, and thought that 
the USG position is set by "USTR lawyers," whose "juridical 
culture is biased against the idea of a registry." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Econoff responded that U.S. trademark law already 
protects many products that would be included in the GOI's 
proposed GI registry.  He said once a registry is opened, 
there is potentially no end to the products submitted for 
protection.  Teti responded that the registry would not be 
"an open book," and that GIs would have to meet agreed-upon 
criteria to be included.  Santacroce proposed that the 
definition of GIs in the TRIPS agreement be used to set 
limits on what could be included in the GI registry.  Teti 
also proposed an expensive fee for the inclusion of a product 
in the registry to deter frivolous filings.  "Seeking 
inclusion in the registry is not something that a business 
will undertake lightly," he concluded. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Comment.  The GOI trade position remains 
essentially unchanged since the December 2005 Hong Kong 
Ministerial (refs C and D).  As reported ref B, the current 
center-left government, in determining the GOI trade 
position, is less sympathetic to agricultural interests than 
the previous center-right government, and recognizes the 
dominant roles that manufacturing and services have in the 
modern Italian economy and in a GOI trade-negotiations 
position.  Post clearly understands the USG position on GIs, 
but takes at face value, repeated GOI assertions that 
progress on a GI registry is Italy's highest priority in the 
agriculture negotiations.  End comment. 
SPOGLI