In the last issue, FoodMate shared China's labelling requirements regarding official Geographical Indications for food and agricultural products, so, does the use of Geographical Indications require certain authorization or approvals? Can anyone use an officially approved geographical indication? Are there certain conditions that need to be met to be authorized or approved for use? As it coincided with the launch of the “2020 China-Central and Eastern Europe Special Agricultural Products Cloud Expo in Weifang, Shandong Province (September 17, 2020), in this issue, FoodMate will compare and study the requirements of both China and EU on the approval and use of agricultural geographical indications.

I. Management requirements for the approval and use of geographical indications for agricultural products in China

At present, China mainly regulates the use of geographical indications of agricultural products according to the “Administrative measures for geographical indications of agricultural products” (Decree No. 11 of the Ministry of Agriculture). A registration system is implemented for geographical indications of agricultural products. After an application for registration has been approved, the competent department will make a decision on registration and make a public announcement, issue a “Certificate of Registration of Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products of the People's Republic of China”, and publish the relevant technical specifications and standards for the registered products.

A. Registration applicant

The applicants for registration of geographical indications for agricultural products are organizations such as farmers' professional cooperative economic organizations and trade associations that are selected by the local people's government at or above the county level under the relevant conditions. For example, they should be able to supervise and manage geographical indications of agricultural products and their products; provide guidance services for the production, processing and marketing of geographical indications of agricultural products; and be able to bear civil liability independently. Applicants for registration should be business corporations, societies and legal persons, but not Governments, enterprises or individuals.

B. Conditions of use of the sign

If units and individuals who meet the relevant conditions wish to use an agricultural geographical indication that has already been approved for registration, they may apply to the holder of the registration certificate without having to register again. However, the user shall sign an agreement on the use of agricultural geographical indications with the holder of the registration certificate according to the production and operation year, in which the quantity, scope and relevant responsibilities and obligations shall be set out.

C. Cancellation of registration certificates

If the registered agricultural products of geographical indications or the holder of the registration certificate do not meet the registration requirements of geographical indications of agricultural products, the registration certificates of geographical indications will be cancelled.
According to the "Review Guidelines for the Registration of Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products" (revised in October 2015): in order to avoid the monopoly of public resources, the farmer professional cooperatives whose registration applicant and sign user are the same subject will not be accepted as the registration applicant temporarily, and will be authorized as the sign user.

II. Management requirements for the approval and use of geographical indications for agricultural products in EU

The main regulation governing the management of geographical indications for agricultural products in the EU is Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 “Quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs”. once the application for registration is approved, the European Commission publishes a decision on the application in the Official Journal of the EU in the form of an implementing act.

A. Registration applicant

Applications for registration of names may only be submitted by groups who work with the products with the name to be registered. In the case of a ‘protected geographical indications’ name that designates a trans-border geographical area, several groups from different Member States or third countries may lodge a joint application for registration.

A single natural or legal person may be treated as a group if the person concerned is the only producer willing to submit an application; and with regard to protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, the defined geographical area possesses characteristics which differ appreciably from those of neighboring areas or the characteristics of the product are different from those produced in neighboring areas.

B. Use of signs

In EU, protected geographical indications may be used by any operator marketing an agricultural product conforming to the corresponding specification. Registered names shall be protected against any misuse, imitation or evocation, or against any other practice liable to mislead the consumer.

C. Registration cancellation

Where compliance with the conditions of the specification is not ensured, or no product is placed on the market under the protected geographical indication for at least seven years, the European Commission may, on its own initiative or at the request of any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, adopt implementing acts to cancel the registration of a protected geographical indication.

In general, the registration of geographical indications for agricultural products in EU is administered at the EU level, and the protection of such registrations also applies to the protection of geographical indications in third countries that meet the appropriate criteria and are protected in their country of origin.

III. Summary of comparison

based on the requirements of China and the EU on the application for the protection of agricultural geographical indications, both China and the EU register and manage the products under the protection of agricultural geographical indications, and both of them are in the charge of the relevant regulatory authorities. The use of geographical indications for agricultural products in China is subject to certain restrictions, and the users of the indications need to negotiate with the holders of registered certificates, while the EU focuses on the establishment of fair competition conditions to ensure the fair use of registered names, but the products must meet the corresponding mandatory technical requirements. Both China and the EU have regulations on the geographical indication names of agricultural products that have been cancelled, but in China this is mainly based on the non-conformity of product registration and applicant qualifications, while the EU also takes into account how long a product has been off the market.

Although there are some management differences between China and the EU in the approval of the use of geographical indications for agricultural products, both sides are making efforts and guiding the high-quality development of agricultural production and processing based on the protection of intellectual property rights, and it is believed that more consensus will be reached on the mutual recognition of the protection of geographical indications for agricultural products In the future. FoodMate will also continue paying attention to the implementation of the agreement after its entry into force and the management requirements of China's unified geographical indications in the future. We welcome your continuous attention.

Recommend article:
Requirements for the use of official geographical indications for food and agricultural products in China

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Business Division of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance of Global Foodmate provides food standards & regulations research, labelling compliance consulting/Chinese label design, industry public opinion monitoring and analysis, registration services (of Infant formula, FSMP, Health food, Novel Food Ingredients, Novel Food Additives, New Varieties of Food-Related Products and Overseas manufacturers of imported food) and other comprehensive food safety solutions for domestic and overseas enterprises and institutions in food industry. 

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