BRUSSELS, 29 August 2003 — The European Union said yesterday it had agreed a list of well-known foodstuffs for which it wants trade-name protection at an upcoming WTO conference, a move likely to fuel strains with its global trade partners. Agreement on the 41-item list was struck late Wednesday after negotiators resolved differences between the European Union’s 15 member states.
“This is not about protectionism. It is about fairness,” said EU farm commissioner Franz Fischler, who battled hard to reach the accord, blocked notably by Greece which held out for inclusion of Feta cheese. “We intend to go to the WTO and basically tell them that we want these names back because many of these names are being abused, pirated in third countries,” said Fischler’s spokesman Gregor Kreuzhuber.
The list includes 22 types of drinks and 19 other foods originally produced in EU countries, but the names of which have been taken up by producers around the world.
The EU plans to submit the list to a Sept. 10-14 World Trade Organization conference in Cancun, Mexico, seeking agreement that the names can only be used for products made in their home countries.
The issue of “geographical indicators” as they are called is a key bone of contention between the EU and several of its trade partners, notably the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Kreuzhuber said that the EU would dismiss a complaint on the issue at the WTO, after reports that the United States and Australia plan to file such an action in Geneva this week. “We are going to reject it according to WTO procedures. We think that this request is neither timely nor justified,” he said.
European leaders hope to rally countries like India, Thailand and certain developing countries from Africa and Latin America to their cause on the issue in Cancun, according to officials.
The commission, the EU’s executive arm, insists its agreement is important not only for products from its member states. “Together with our allies, the EU will do its utmost to achieve better protection for regional quality products, from Europe’s Roquefort cheese to India’s Darjeeling tea, from Guatemala’s Antigua coffee to Morocco’s Argan oil in the WTO talks,” said Fischler.
The WTO also appeared set yesterday to rubber stamp a deal for poorer nations to get anti-AIDS and other vital drugs more cheaply, but health activists blasted the pact as “disastrous”.
The United States and four key developing countries — the states most closely involved in the long-running negotiations — reached agreement on Wednesday, clearing the way for the full 146-state WTO membership to give their approval.
Ensuring poorer states unable to manufacture medicines can import cheap generic drugs when they need to is seen as vital to beating major killers such as AIDS and malaria. But it means setting aside patents owned by multinational firms which are protected by trade rules.