Research On Legal Protection Of Geographical Indications In EU

The geographical indication protection system was born in Europe and has a history of more than 100 years.Europe has always had the tradition of agricultural production.The countries and regions in Europe rely on their cultural and natural conditions to produce high-quality,reputable products and are loved and recognized by consumers all over the world.These regional agricultural products bring huge economic benefits to Europe.In order to protect the unique quality and reputation of their products,some countries have adopted legal means to ensure the quality of products and prevent producers in other places from using or abusing special products.As a country of origin of the geographical indication system,France first established a system of control over the appellation of origin in the early 20th century and protected the country's wines through a series of measures such as demarcating the production area and naming the place of origin.Until the 1990s,the EU gradually realized the importance of geographical indication protection,so the Geographical Indications Regulation No.2081/92 was enacted at the EU level.At this point,the geographical indication protection system emerged.With the strengthening of economic ties among European countries,many countries have successively established geographical indication protection systems.In addition to the protection of geographical indications at the national level,since the EU Community s first legislation for the protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and food in 1992,it has continuously improved the geographical indication protection system for agricultural products and food,wine and spirits.At present,the EU geographical indication protection system has become a mature and highly operational system on a global scale.At the same time,at the international level,the EU is also striving to expand the scope of protection of geographical indications and strengthen protection,with its own influence to push forward the development of the global geographical indication protection system.Within the framework of the WTO,EU has proposed to establish a multilateral notification and registration system for geographical indications in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights(TRIPs Agreement)to expand the scope of protection of geographical indications,but this proposal has been vetoed by the United States which represented the new-world countries.The EU's own geographical indication protection system has also been criticized by the United States and Australia.The two sides finally reached a consensus through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.The EU has to amend its geographical indication regulations to comply with WTO specific provisions and national treatment and MFN principle.Due to the slow progress of negotiations within the WTO framework,the EU has turned to negotiations on multilateral and bilateral trade agreements,in an attempt to improve the level of protection of geographical indications in a smaller scale.The EU's initiatives are not only an act of actively improving intellectual property protection for itself,but also contributing to the development of the world's geographical indication system.In addition,since 2010,China and the EU have cooperated in the field of geographical indications,mutual recognition and protection of the geographical indications of both sides,the two economic entities will formally sign a new Sino-European Geographical Indications Cooperation Agreement.The signing of this agreement is not only a protection system for consumers or local farmers,but also makes it more advantageous for EU companies to export products to the Chinese market.This paper analyzes the progress and content of the Sino-European GI agreement negotiation and believes that the improvement of China's current GI legislation is conducive to China's agriculture and the Chinese producers that have EU registered geographical indications to create more economic benefits.It also helps to reduce Sino-European trade friction.On the other hand,learning from the EU's mature geographical indication protection system is conducive to the improvement of China's legal system of geographical indication.