Brussels, 08/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - The United States has launched further consultation with the European Union in Geneva on the subject of protection of geographic names of agri-food products that fails to protect US trademarked geographic names, it was announced by the US Trade Representative (USTR) in a press release. Prior to the opening of arbitration procedure, this approach has, with an additional accusation, reactivated infringement to the preferential treatment clause of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) - a similar procedure that has been dormant since 1999 in which Washington attacked European regulation, arguing at the time that it failed to comply with the GATT's most favoured nation clause.
"Such trademarked names are important in signifying the quality and origin of products such as Idaho Potatoes and Florida Oranges", the USTR stresses denouncing discrimination toward American quality products.
Europeans are being accused of "not allowing the geographical indications of other Members" of the World Trade Organisation "to be registered - absent reciprocity, the EU regulation treats imported products in a less favourable manner than EU products and does not grant the advantages that EU products receive to the products of non-EU Members", thereby "violating national treatment and most favoured nation treatment trade rules " contained in GATT. The USTR quotes examples of national surveillance measures and monitoring of the respect of trademarked geographic names. The EU responds that since there is no multilateral register, how can one talk of breaching WTO obligations?, referring to the absence at international level of the same level of protection as the EU grants to trademarked geographic names. Can this be a coincidence? This burgeoning EU-US trade dispute is already being played out in Geneva against the bigger backdrop of farm negotiations as part of the Doha Development Round (see Europe of 1 April, p.8).