The Provisions on Geographical Indications in the TRIPS Agreement



M. Geuze

which such names refer. Some other members have argued that the Doha text on
agriculture does not provide a mandate for such a proposal.

Outlook

The International Symposium that WIPO organized together with the Government
of China in Beijing in June 200739 showed once more that, for the protection of
geographical indications, there would not appear to be a “one size fits all” solution.
Important elements determining how a country protects geographical indications are
linked to the national infrastructure for the production and commercialization of
products, historical factors and the political power of producer groups. Thus, for their
coffee, Ethiopia has been pursuing an approach different from Colombia’s; the
European Union has its various systems for geographical indication protection; and
China has a basis for its certification mark system different from that of the United
States.

For a number of years, the Chinese government has been strongly promoting
among its enterprises protection of the value-added component of their products with
the help of trademarks and, where possible, geographical indications. Similar policies
exist in other countries, such as, for example, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and
Indonesia. At the abovementioned symposium, China underlined the importance of
this policy for, in particular, their farmers, whose income had increased significantly
as a result. Some results of studies into the relationship between geographical
indication protection and price premia were also contained in the WTO’s World Trade
Report of 2004 - with respect to Bordeaux wine and Darjeeling tea - but the report
concluded that more study into this relationship was clearly needed.

The history of the birth of the geographical indication system in France shows the
strong sentiments among wine producers from an area famous for its wine who
wanted the government to do something to protect them from wine producers who
were using the name of the area but not able to produce the same quality wine - thus
prejudicing the interests of those who are able to produce the quality wine. Illustrative
in this respect is the following adaptation of an article that appeared in
The
Economist
.40 The adapted version is entitled “Running Out of Grapes in Champagne”
and reads as follows:

One of the world’s most valuable GIs is Champagne. In the 1850s, it sold around
10 million bottles; by 1999, it had sold 327 million bottles, becoming a US$7 billion
industry. The major manufacturers and marketers of Champagne are corporate giants,
but small farmers of grapes have retained their sway in the industry. Controlling 90
per cent of the vineyards, some 15,000 grape growers have forced the big companies

60


Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy



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