[Ecommerce] in Tribune de Geneve: US declares victory over EU in WTO food brands dispute

[Manon Ress]

US declares victory over EU in WTO food brands dispute
WASHINGTON, March 15 (AFP)
The US government claimed victory over the European Union Tuesday in a
long-running WTO dispute over protection for regional food brands.

Acting US Trade Representative Peter Allgeier said the World Trade
Organisation had been "crystal clear" in finding the EU's "geographical
indications" for foods are discriminatory to non-EU firms.

Australia, which had backed US complaints over the EU system, also
claimed victory after the WTO released its ruling in the case, but the
EU had a contrary reading of the judgement.

"We're very pleased with this decision. It's a clear win for American
farmers and food processors," Allgeier said in a statement.

"For years, Europe effectively had a 'Do Not Apply' sign directed at
foreign producers," he said.

"We believed that, under WTO rules, US farmers, ranchers, and other food
producers should have the same access to protection for 'geographical
indications' as European food producers, and that the European system
discriminated against us."

The United States claimed that by imposing the geographical indication
in addition to normal trademark rules, the EU bars American brands such
as Florida oranges from enjoying the same level of protection as, say,
Parma ham.

There are about 700 registered GIs in Europe (not counting those for
wine and spirits, which have a different system of protection), but
according to the US government, none is from a non-EU country.

Allgeier said the WTO panel ruling in the case had also agreed with the
United States that the world body's rules only protect GI names as
registered, and not linguistic variations.

He said this meant that a US company such as brewer Anheuser-Busch,
which owns the trademarks for "Budweiser" and "Bud" in Europe, can stop
"confusing" uses such as "Budvar" by Czech rival Budejovicky Budva.

For its part, the EU's executive commission said the WTO had in fact
upheld its right to extend GIs under the current regime. US officials
expressed bafflement at this reading of the panel ruling.

"To be honest it's very confusing because the panel clearly found that
the regulation itself discriminated," a US trade official told reporters
on condition of anonymity.

"It's a little hard for the panel to ignore that this regulation has
been in force for 14 years, that there are over 600 GIs in place, and
not a single one is from outside the EU," he said.

"We're looking for equal access and for the EU to remove the
discrimination."

=A9 AFP Agence France-Presse
--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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