Geographical indication

Governments have protected trade names and trademarks of food products identified with a particular region since at least the end of the 19th century, using laws against false trade descriptions or passing off, which generally protects against suggestions that a product has a certain origin, quality, or association when it does not. In such cases, the limitation on competitive freedoms which results from the grant of a monopoly of use over a geographical indication is justified by governments either by consumer protection benefits or by producer protection benefits.

One of the first GI systems is the one used in France from the early part of the 20th century known as appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC). Items that meet geographical origin and quality standards may be endorsed with a government-issued stamp which acts as official certification of the origins and standards of the product. Examples of products that have such "appellations of origin" include Gruyère cheese (from Switzerland) and many French wines.[2]

Under "Champagnerparagraph" of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden from using allied geographical indications on products, which in particular affected the German "cognac" and "champagne" industries, as the French considered the terms misleading references to places in France. Since then, the terms "Weinbrand" and "Sekt" have been used instead.[3]

Geographical indications have long been associated with the concept of terroir and with Europe as an entity, where there is a tradition of associating certain food products with particular regions. Under European Union Law, the protected designation of origin framework which came into effect in 1992 regulates the following systems of geographical indications: "Protected designation of origin" (PDO), "protected geographical indication" (PGI), and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed" (TSG).[4]

The use of geographical indications is not limited to agricultural products. A geographical indication may also highlight specific qualities of a product that are due to human factors found in the product's place of origin, such as specific manufacturing skills and traditions. For example handicrafts, which are generally handmade using local natural resources and usually embedded in the traditions of local communities.[5]

Geographical indications are generally applied to traditional products, produced by rural, marginal or indigenous communities over generations, that have gained a reputation on the local, national or international markets due to their specific unique qualities.

Producers can add value to their products through Geographical Indications by:

• communicating to consumers the product's characteristics, which derive from the climate, soil and other natural conditions in its particular geographical area;
• promoting the conservation of local traditional production processes; and
• protecting and adding value to the cultural identity of local communities.

The recognition and protection on the markets of the names of these products allows the community of producers to invest in maintaining the specific qualities of the product on which the reputation is built. Most importantly, as the reputation spreads beyond borders and demand grows, investment may be directed to the sustainablity of the environment where these products originate and are produced. In the International Trade Centre's "Guide to Geographical Indications: Linking Products and their Origins", authors Daniele Giovannucci, Professor Tim Josling, William Kerr, Bernard O'Connor and May T. Yeung clearly assert that geographical indications are by no means a panacea for the difficulties of rural development. They can however offer a comprehensive framework for rural development, since they can positively encompass issues of economic competitiveness, stakeholder equity, environmental stewardship, and socio-cultural value.[6] The application of circular economy will ensure socio-economic returns in the long-run to avoid growth at an environmental cost. This approach for GI development may also allow for investment together with promoting the reputation of the product along the lines of sustainability when and where possible.

Rural development impacts from geographical indications, referring to environmental protection, economic development and social well-being, can be:

• the strengthening of sustainable local food production and supply (except for non-agricultural GIs such as handicrafts);
• a structuring of the supply chain around a common product reputation linked to origin;
• greater bargaining power to raw material producers for better distribution so as for them to receive a higher retail price benefit percentage;
• capacity of producers to invest economic gains into higher quality to access niche markets, improving circular economy means throughout the value chain, protection against infringements such as free-riding from illegitimate producers, etc.;
• economic resilience in terms of increased and stabilised prices for the GI product to avoid the commodity trap through de-commodisation, or to prevent/minimise external shocks affecting the premium price percentage gains (usually varying from 20-25%);
• added value throughout the supply chain;
• spill-over effects such as new business and even other GI registrations;
• preservation of the natural resources on which the product is based and therefore protect the environment;
• preservation of traditions and traditional knowledge;
• identity based prestige;
• linkages to tourism.

None of these impacts are guaranteed and they depend on numerous factors, including the process of developing the geographical indications, the type and effects of the association of stakeholders, the rules for using the GI (or Code of Practice), the inclusiveness and quality of the collective dimension decision making of the GI producers association and quality of the marketing efforts undertaken.

Like trademarks, geographical indications are regulated locally by each country because conditions of registration such as differences in the generic use of terms vary from country to country. This is especially true of food and beverage names which frequently use geographical terms, but it may also be true of other products such as carpets (e.g. 'Shiraz'), handicrafts, flowers and perfumes.

When products with GIs acquire a reputation of international magnitude, some other products may try to pass themselves off as the authentic GI products. This kind of competition is often seen as unfair, as it may discourage traditional producers as well as mislead consumers. Thus the European Union has pursued efforts to improve the protection of GI internationally.[7] Inter alia, the European Union has established distinct legislation to protect geographical names in the fields of wines, spirits, agricultural products including beer. A register for protected geographical indications and denominations of origin relating to products in the field of agriculture including beer, but excluding mineral water, was established (DOOR). Another register was set up for wine region names, namely the E-Bacchus register. In November 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office launched the comprehensive database GI View covering food, wine, and spirit GIs.[8] A private database project (GEOPRODUCT directory) intends to provide worldwide coverage. Accusations of 'unfair' competition should although be levelled with caution since the use of GIs sometimes comes from European immigrants who brought their traditional methods and skills with them.[9]

One reason for the conflicts that occur between European and United States governments is a difference in philosophy as to what constitutes a "genuine" product. In Europe, the prevailing theory is that of terroir: that there is a specific property of a geographical area, and that dictates a strict usage of geographical designations. Thus, anyone with sheep of the right breeds can make Roquefort cheese if they are located in the part of France where that cheese is made, but nobody outside that part of France can make a blue sheep's milk cheese and call it Roquefort, even if they completely duplicate the process described in the definition of Roquefort. By contrast, in the United States, the naming is generally considered to be a matter of intellectual property. Thus, the name Grayson belongs to Meadowcreek Farms, and they have to a right to use it as a trademark. Nobody, even in Grayson County, Virginia, can call their cheese Grayson, while Meadowcreek Farms, if they bought up another farm elsewhere in the United States, even if nowhere near Grayson County, could use that name. It is considered that their need to preserve their reputation as a company is the quality guarantee. This difference causes most of the conflict between the United States and Europe in their attitudes toward geographical names.[11]

However, there is some overlap, particularly with American products adopting a European way of viewing the matter.[12] The most notable of these are crops: Vidalia onions, Florida oranges, and Idaho potatoes. In each of these cases, the state governments of Georgia, Florida, and Idaho registered trademarks, and then allowed their growers—or in the case of the Vidalia onion, only those in a certain, well-defined geographical area within the state—to use the term, while denying its use to others. The European conception is increasingly gaining acceptance in American viticulture; also, vintners in the various American Viticultural Areas are attempting to form well-developed and unique identities as New World wine gains acceptance in the wine community. Finally, the United States has a long tradition of placing relatively strict limitations on its native forms of whiskey; particularly notable are the requirements for labeling a product "straight whiskey" (which requires the whiskey to be produced in the United States in accordance with certain standards) and the requirement, enforced by federal law and several international agreements, (NAFTA, among them) that a product labeled Tennessee whiskey be a straight Bourbon whiskey produced in the state of Tennessee.

Conversely, some European products have adopted a more American system: a prime example is Newcastle Brown Ale, which received an EU protected geographical status in 2000. When the brewery moved from Tyneside to Tadcaster in North Yorkshire (about 150 km away) in 2007 for economic reasons, the status had to be revoked.

1.^ See also the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement, the Lisbon Agreement, the Geneva Act.

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO (license statement/permission). Text taken from Geographical indications An introduction, 2nd edition​, WIPO, WIPO.

• Baeumer, Ludwig, "Protection of Geographical Indications under WIPO Treaties and Questions Concerning the Relationship Between Those Treaties and the TRIPS Agreement", in Symposium on the Protection of Geographical Indications in the Worldwide Context (held in Eger, Hungary, October 24/25, 1997), WIPO publication No. 760(E), Geneva, 1999.
• Bramley, Cerkia, Estelle Biénabe, and Johann Kirsten, "The Economics of Geographical Indications: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Geographical Indication Research in Developing Countries", in The Economics of Intellectual Property, WIPO, 2009.
• Giovannucci, Daniele et al., Guide to Geographical Indications, Linking Products and their Origins, International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, 2009.
• Rangnekar, Dwijen, The Socio-Economics of Geographical Indications: A Review of Empirical Evidence from Europe, UNCTAD-ICTSD Project on IPTs and Sustainable Development Series, Issue Paper 8, 2004.
• Vandecandelaere, Emilie et al., Linking People, Places and Products, jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and SINER-GI, FAO, 2009.
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Adding Value to Traditional Products of Regional Origin: A Guide to Creating a Quality Consortium, Vienna, 2010.
• World Trade Organization (WTO), "Review under Article 24.2 of the Application of the Provisions of the Section of the TRIPS Agreement on Geographical Indications", WTO document IP/C/W/253/Rev.1, 2003.
• WIPO: SCT/3/6: Geographical Indications.
• WIPO: SCT/5/3: Conflicts between Trademarks and GIs, Conflicts between Homonymous
• WIPO: GIs.SCT/8/4: Geographical Indications, Historic Background, Nature of the Right, Existing Systems of Protection, Obtaining Protection in Other Countries.
• WIPO: SCT/9/4: The Definition of Geographical Indications.[1]

• FAO guide: Linking people, places and products (2009)
• Organization for an International Geographical Indications Network
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Geographical Indications
• Caslon Analytics Appellations
• Wines and mangoes as geographical Indications Archived 2019-12-21 at the Wayback Machine
• A research project on geographical indications