The wine industry does not want Brussels to ’outsource’ management of its GIs

he European Commission is currently preparing to reform the legal framework of Geographical Indications (GIs) as part of its Farm to Fork strategy. The preparations are causing concern with the farming industry in general, and the wine industry in particular. The Association of European Regions for Products of Origin (AREPO), the Assembly of European Wine Regions (AREV) and the European Federation of Origin Wines (EFOW) have stated in an open letter that they are “concerned about the European Commission's intention to outsource the day-to-day management of our GI specifications to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which is responsible for the registration of trademarks and designs”.

Referred to repeatedly by members of the Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture (DG Agri), the proposed transfer “is extremely disconcerting” according to the letter’s signatories: “For decades, the European Commission has invested resources in promoting a similar approach worldwide, insisting on the specificities of GIs and their differences with other intellectual property rights (IPRs), thus justifying a different management system”.

Stressing the economic results of the current model for European trade (“GIs represent 15.5% of total EU agri-food exports”) and for producers (added value “on average of 2.85 for GI wines”), AREPO, AREV and EFOW insist that “management of EU GIs must remain in the hands of the European Commission and must not be entrusted to an external agency. This would undermine the EU's opposition to the US viewpoint that a collective or certification trust scheme is the most effective way to provide GI protection”.