The EU-China Agreement on Geographical Indications: main features and implications

Abstract

The global diffusion of a food culture increasingly attentive to the quality and authenticity of products has been reflected in recent years in the growing market demand for typical products linked to the culture and traditions of particular places, and therefore for products with geographical indications. Considered important intellectual property rights, geographical indications have been subject to a regulatory process in which the European Union has been the first to develop a sui generis protection regime. For years engaged in the project of enhancing and protecting geographical indications, the EU has been seeking to conclude bilateral cooperation agreements with third countries in order to give further impetus to this project. In this context, cooperation has developed with China which, like Europe, enjoys a sophisticated food culture that includes a huge variety of quality GI products. The collaboration initiated in 2010 led to the two parties signing an agreement on cooperation and protection of geographical indications. Considered to be the first important bilateral trade agreement between the two powers, since its entry into force on 1 March 2021 it has already made its first effects felt, bringing economic and social benefits within the territories of the two parties. Through a careful analysis and comparison of existing GI protection regimes at international level and of the main legislative interventions on GIs, with particular reference to the European and Chinese legislative systems, the present work aims to analyse the bases and main motivations that led China and Europe to collaborate in this historically important project. By examining the contents and characteristics of the agreement, this paper then aims to investigate what is the impact of the agreement and what are the main implications and benefits it brings. In particular, through a brief case study, the work attempts to examine in more detail the relevance of the agreement for the Italian Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO supply chain in its process of affirmation within the Chinese market.