Geographical indications (GIs)

Geographical indication
A geographical indication is a sign used on goods
that have a specific geographical origin and
possess qualities or a reputation due to that
place of origin.

Most commonly, a geographical indication

consists of the name of the place of origin of the
goods.
 Agricultural products typically have qualities
that derive from their place of production and
are influenced by specific local geographical
factors, such as climate and soil.

Whether a sign functions as a geographical

indication is a matter of national law and
consumer perception.
Geographical indications may be used for a wide
variety of agricultural products, such as, for example,
“Tuscany” for olive oil produced in a specific area of
Italy, or “Roquefort” for cheese produced in that
region of France, or „oscypek” a sheep cheese from
south of Poland and Slovakia
Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European
Union

The schemes of Gis protection in Europe are based on the

legal framework provided by the EU Regulation No 1151/2012
of the European Parliament dtd. 2012.

These laws protect the names of wines, cheeses, hams,

sausages, seafood, olives, olive oils, beers, balsamic vinegar,
regional breads, fruits, raw meats and vegetables.

They enclouse more than 1000 regional products from all EU

countries. Italy and France have got the largest number of
products listed there. Poland has 37 products.
 Some of the regional protected Polish
products
- Sheep cheese (oscypek) Podhale region

- Sausage (kiełbasa lisiecka)

- Kashubian garden strawberry (truskawka

kaszubska)- Pomerania region

- Śliwka szydłowska (plum) Kielce region-

central Poland
- Cherry (wiśnia nadwiślańska)
Masovia- central Poland

- Drinking honey various regions

- Kraków bagel

- Bean „pretty Johny”- Lesser Poland

The use of geographical indications is not limited to
agricultural products. They 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. The place of
origin may be a village or town, a region or a country.
An example of the latter is “Switzerland” or “Swiss”,
perceived as a geographical indication in many
countries for products made in Switzerland and, in
particular, for watches.
 What is an appelation of origin
An appellation of origin is a special kind of
geographical indication used on products
that have a specific quality exclusively or
essentially due to the geographical
environment in which the products are
produced. The term geographical indication
encompasses appellations of origin.
 Other examples
Examples of appellations of origin that are
protected in states party to the Lisbon
Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of
Origin and their International Registration are
“Bordeaux” for wine produced in the Bordeaux
region of France, “Prosciutto di Parma” – or
Parma ham – for ham produced in the Parma
province of Italy or “Habana” for tobacco grown
in the Havana region of Cuba.
• The Protected geographical indication is the name of an
area, a specific place or, in exceptional cases, the name of a
country, used as a description of an agricultural product or
a foodstuff,
• which comes from such an area, place or country,
• which has a specific quality, goodwill or other characteristic
property, attributable to its geographical origin,
• at least one of the stages of production, processing or
preparation takes place in the area.
• In other words, to receive the PGI status, the entire
product must be traditionally and at least partially
manufactured (prepared, processed or produced) within
the specific region and thus acquire unique properties.
 Why do geographical indications need
protection
Geographical indications are understood by
consumers to denote the origin and quality of
products. Many of them have aqquired valuable
reputations which, if not adequately protected, may
be misrepresented by commercial operators.

False use of geographical indications by unauthorized

parties, for example “Darjeeling” for tea that was not
grown in the tea gardens of Darjeeling, is detrimental
to consumers and legitimate producers.
 The reasons to protect geographical
indications
• The preambles to the regulations cite consumer demand for quality
foodstuffs, and identify a number of goals for the protection regimes:
• the promotion of products with specific characteristics, particularly
those coming from less-favoured or rural areas;
• the improvement of the income of farmers, in return for a "genuine
effort to improve quality";
• the retention of population in rural areas;
• the provision of clear and succinct information to consumers
regarding product origin.
• The provision of a recompense for efforts to improve quality and the
need for consumer protection are often cited as justifications for
trade mark protection in other domains, and geographical indications
operate in a similar manner to trademarks.
The former are deceived into believing they are
buying a genuine product with specific qualities
and characteristics, and the latter are deprived
of valuable business and suffer damage to the
established reputation of their products.
 What is the difference between a geographical indication and a
trademark?

A trademark is a sign used by a company to distinguish its

goods and services from those produced by others. It gives its
owner the right to prevent others from using the trademark.

A geographical indication guarantees to consumers that a

product was produced in a certain place and has certain
characteristics that are due to that place of production.

It may be used by all producers who make products that

share certain qualities in the place designated by a
geographical indication.
 What is a “generic” geographical
indication?
If the name of a place is used to designate a particular
type of product, rather than to indicate its place of origin,
the term no longer functions as a geographical indication.
For example, “Dijon mustard”, a kind of mustard that
originated many years ago in the French town of Dijon,
has, over time, come to denote mustard of that kind made
in many places. Hence, “Dijon mustard” is now a generic
indication and refers to a type of product, rather than a
place.
Greek cheese „feta” is the same example.
 How are geographical indications
protected?
Geographical indications are protected in accordance with
national laws and under a wide range of concepts, such as laws
against unfair competition, consumer protection laws, laws for
the protection of certification marks or special laws for the
protection of geographical indications or appellations of origin.
In essence, unauthorized parties may not use geographical
indications if such use is likely to mislead the public as to the
true origin of the product.
Applicable sanctions range from court injunctions preventing
unauthorized use to the payment of damages and fines or, in
serious cases, imprisonment.
 Special regime
The protection of geographical indications for wines
and other alcoholic drinks was historically the first to
be developed at both national and Community level.
It is also the only protection which is recognised by
the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), administered by
the World Trade Organization, although the European
Union is pushing for other geographical indications to
be included in the Doha Round of world trade
negotiations.
 Wines
European Union rules governing the production of wine ("the product obtained
exclusively from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes, whether
or not crushed, or of grape must") are considerably long.
To be considered as a "quality wine", the wine must come from a specified region
and be associated with a "geographical indication" or appellation: indeed, the
technical term used in the Regulation is quality wine psr with the "psr" standing for
"produced in a specified region". Wines which do not meet this requirement may
only be marketed as table wine.

There has been little harmonisation of national provisions within the European
Union. Member States delimit the specified areas of production and determine the
rules and appellations.
Appellations are usually the geographical name of the area in which the wine is
produced, although there are some historical exceptions: muscadet and blanquette
in France, cava and manzanilla in Spain and vinho verde in Portugal. The
appellations are not necessarily unique: Cava may refer either to a quality sparkling
wine psr produced in Spain or to a Greek table wine which has been aged (as a
transliteration of "Κάβα")
 spirits
The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description and
presentation of spirit drinks (No 1576/89) provides for a double system of
protection of spirit descriptions.
Spirits are divided into 21 categories, which each have rules for fabrication and
minimum strength.

Within these categories, certain names are reserved for drinks from particular
countries, for example ouzo, which is aniseed-flavoured spirit drink which must have
been produced exclusively in Greece or Cyprus, or grappa, which is a grape marc
spirit produced in Italy, or pálinka, which is a purely fruit based spirit produced in
Hungary.

The Regulation also defines a number of geographical designations, which are

reserved for drinks which "acquired their character and definitive qualities" in the
area denominated. The exact delimitation of the areas and any other regulations are
left to the Member States concerned. By way of derogation, the designations
Königsberger Bärenfang and are permitted for certain German drinks even though
they refer to Königsberg (Królewiec) now part of Russia (Kaliningrad).
 Aromatised drinks
• The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description
and presentation of aromatised wines, aromatised wine-based drinks and
aromatised wine-product cocktails (No 1601/91) institutes a system of
protected denominations for aromatised drinks which is very similar to
that for spirits.
• The association of general names with specific countries is weaker: a drink
labelled simply "Sangria" must have been produced in Spain or Portugal,
for example, but it is permissible to label a drink "Sangria produced in the
United Kingdom: aromatised wine-based drink" if the drink meets the
other requirements to be described as sangria.

• Similarly, the denomination "Clarea” on its own is reserved for drinks

produced in Spain.
• Cognac refers to brandy made in the town of Cognac in France. However
in Eryvan (Armenia) the marvelous local cognac „Ararat” is made too.
They were made to use the name brandy.

• The protected geographical designations are:

• Vermouth di Torino (vermouth original: 1757) (Italy)
• Nürnberger Glühwein (Germany)