Four European associations expressed serious concerns, on Thursday 10 February, about the direction in which the reform of the EU’s geographical indication policy appears to be heading.
The European Commission is expected to present a proposal for the reform of geographical indications (GIs) in March.
TheAssociation of European Regions for Products of Origin (AREPO), theAssembly of European Wine Regions (AREV), the European Federation of Origin Wines (EFOW) and oriGIn EU are protesting against the Commission’s plan to entrust the day-to-day management of geographical indication specifications to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which is responsible for the registration of trademarks and designs (see EUROPE 12830/7).
“This is extremely confusing”, says a statement from the associations. “Not only do geographical indications have an autonomous regime different from that of trademarks and other intellectual property rights, but they are collective rights fulfilling several public functions. Geographical indications are not the expression of private interests that protect only a name or a sign”, argue these organisations.
In 2013, the EU’s trade in GIs was worth €54 billion per year and in 2017, €75 billion per year. Today, geographical indications account for 15.5% of total EU agri-food exports.
The associations in question claim that “we currently have a solid legal framework for geographical indications in the EU”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)