At the Special Committee on Agriculture on 8 May, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council managed to secure a negotiating mandate for the proposed regulation on geographical indications (GI). The mandate is the result of more than a year’s work on the Commission’s proposal and will allow the Council to begin negotiations with the European Parliament.
Importance of GIs
The system of GIs guarantees that an EU product is authentic, not an imitation or counterfeit, and serves to reinforce its national and international recognition. EU quality schemes help protect the heritage of Europe’s agricultural sector and enhance consumer recognition of quality products all over the world.
EU GIs accounted for an estimated sales value of €74.76 billion in 2017, 6.8 % of the total sales value of the European food and drinks sector, which was estimated at €1.101 billion in 2017. Wines represented more than half of this value (€39.4 billion), agricultural products and foodstuffs 35% (€27.34 billion), and spirit drinks 13% (€10.35 billion), while products with a registered name represent 15.4% of the total EU agri-food exports.
Council Position
In its mandate, the Council amended the Commission’s original proposal in a number of areas to better align it with member states’ practical needs, ensuring that the registration process will function smoothly while maintaining harmonised rules for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products. The main changes include:
- reworking the Commission’s original proposal on producer groups and recognised producer groups on the basis of the longstanding systems already established in several member states which worked as inspiration for the provisions, while also ensuring that member states wishing to establish such systems are equipped with the necessary tools. A further new element is the provision that Member States may restrict the membership to certain categories of producers, taking into account the nature of the product covered by the producer group, while they may also provide for additional rules, especially regarding the organisation, statute, functioning, membership & financial contributions,
- affirming the importance of the European Commission’s participation in the system of geographical indications while removing the proposed involvement of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO),
- strengthening the protection of GIs on the internet as well as in domain names while removing overly burdensome provisions for domain names,
- reworking the possibility to introduce sustainability practices in the product specification for GIs to better take in consideration the practical conditions introduced in the regulation.
Next steps
The negotiation mandate agreed on 8 May formalises the Council’s position. It provides the Council with a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament. The Swedish Presidency is ready to start these negotiations as soon as the European Parliament adopts it position.
Members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee agreed their mandate for the legislative framework governing GIs on April 20. The full House may vote on the issue during its May 31- June 1 mini session in Brussels, after which June 7 has been provisionally slated for the first trilogue.
Background
The EU geographical indications system protects the names of products that originate from specific regions and have specific qualities or enjoy a reputation linked to the production territory. Agri-food products and wines can be protected as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and spirit drinks as Geographical Indications (GI). EU symbols have been established to publicise these products. These symbols appear on product packaging, making it easier to identify these products on the market. As of 23 February 2023 the Commission has registered over 3 500 geographical indications.
Read HERE the negotiation mandate agreed on 8 May
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