EC Adopts New Rules On Geographical Indications

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

22 March 2006

The European Agriculture Council on Monday adopted two regulations to clarify and streamline rules for the registration of protected geographical indications (PGIs) and protected designations of origin (PDOs), as well as traditional specialities guaranteed (TSGs).

The first regulation on geographical indications and designations of origin also implements the findings of a WTO panel.

An EU system for the registration and protection of GIs for products other than wine and spirits was established in 1992 by Council Regulation (EEC) 2081/92.

In a panel ruling issued in 2004, the WTO upheld the integrity of the system by rejecting the majority of claims made by the United States and Australia.

The regulations issued this week bring the system into conformity in the two areas that were criticised: firstly by formally deleting a requirement that the third country should apply similar protection on a reciprocal and equivalent basis, and secondly by allowing third country operators to submit applications and objections directly to the Commission rather than through their governments.

The deadline for implementing the WTO ruling is 3 April 2006.

“In adopting this new regulation, the EU has made the registration procedure for PDOs and PGIs more efficient and fully WTO-compatible,” explained Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. She continued:

“I am particularly satisfied that, by adopting the new regulation on geographical indications and designations of origin, the EU will meet the WTO deadline of 3 April."

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