U.S. Trade Representative calls out EU geographical indications abuses
USDEC, NMPF and CCFN commend Ambassador Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative Office staff and others for reaffirming the U.S. government’s commitment to tackling the issue.
The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) on April 30 commended Ambassador Katherine Tai and Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) staff, as well as USDA and other administration partners, for reaffirming in the USTR’s “Special 301 Report” the U.S. government’s commitment to tackling continued European Union (EU) misuse of legitimate geographical indications (GI) protections.
USTR’s report, an annual publication tallying global challenges pertaining to intellectual property issues, called out the EU’s policy of blocking fair competition through the pursuit of geographical indications restricting the use of common food and beverage terms, which erect barriers to trade in products relying on common food names, the Arlington, Va.-based organizations said.