Feta ruling thin end of the wedge, officials fear

Trade officials are worried that European nations are eyeing potential non-tariff trade barriers by claiming that particular foods can be produced only in one geographic region.

Even major European industrial countries cannot stop some Old World nations from locking up traditional names for foods, say New Zealand dairy executives.

Denmark and Germany make feta cheese, but were told last week that in future only cheeses made in specific regions of Greece will be sold in Europe under that name.

The European Commission, has adopted a formal decision that feta cheese should have the same kind of protection as parma ham, which can legally be made only in Italy's Emilio Romagna region.

The ruling follows the tradition that some wines can be legally made only in the region after which they are named, such as Champagne.

Italy trademarks its best foods and wines, and officials complain that it loses hundreds of millions of dollars of exports through "piracy" of its trademark foods, such as with New Zealand parmesan cheese.

But the feta ruling is a significant advance in locking up "geographical indicators" (GI) for cheeses, and even some European cheese manufacturers are worried.

The Danish Dairy Board has said it will take the issue to the European Court of Justice. Denmark makes 30,000 tonnes of feta a year, compared with Greece's 115,000 tonnes.

The ruling would have little effect on New Zealand because it did not export feta to the European Union, said Fonterra regulatory and special projects counsel Joan Wright.

Last month Fonterra chief executive Craig Norgate told an International Dairy Federation conference that the debate on geographical labels for products was "spiralling into absurdity".

"We have no difficulty with protecting legitimate local names for cheeses such as Roquefort or Gorgonzola," Norgate said.

"But at the same time, we must also recognise that some names - such as feta, parmesan, emmental and cheddar - have long been recognised as generic products by consumers around the world.

"The right to continue to produce and market those cheeses must be equally protected."

Wright said Denmark and Germany had been unable to "deflect the GI juggernaut within Europe" and New World nations such as New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada had fewer avenues for effective action in Europe.

"The die was cast on feta some time ago," she said. "Now it has happened, countries like Denmark and Germany can take their case to the courts.

"Hopefully, the courts will take a more commonsense view than we have seen in the European Commission."

A court at Saint Omer in northern France recently fined cheese importer Boudringhin for trying to sell 22 tonnes of New Zealand cheese as "French emmental", a misrepresentation in which Fonterra was not involved.

Wright said it would be interesting to see how the French reacted to Swiss moves to register "emmentaler" as a Swiss geographical indication. "The irony of the French being on the side of the aggrieved has not escaped us," she said.

The Codex Alimentarius international food standards commission is revising its standard for cheeses such as emmentaler, gouda and edam, saying they are generic names used to depict cheese styles rather than regional origins.

Fonterra believes the naming of cheese varieties should be a question of branding and intellectual property.

Wright said New Zealand diplomats and negotiators had been punching above their nation's relative weight on the issue at international trade talks.


- NZPA