The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has recently pronounced itself on the extent of the protection afforded to producers of a product which has been awarded a protected designation of origin (PDO) status. The judgment in question related to the use of the name ‘feta’ by manufacturers of cheese produced in Denmark but intended for export to third countries.
In terms of EU law, product names can be granted a ‘geographical indication’ (GI) such as a PDO if they have a specific link to the place where they are made and enjoy special characteristics. The GI recognition enables consumers to trust and distinguish quality products while also assisting producers to market their products better.
GI recognition also endows the relevant products with intellectual property rights. Thus, the EU GI system protects the names of products that originate from specific regions and have specific qualities or enjoy a reputation linked to the production territory.
The name ‘feta’ was registered as a PDO in 2002. This means that since then, such name may be used only for cheese that originates in the defined geographical area in Greece and conforms to the applicable product specification.
The commission filed infringement proceedings against Denmark, alleging that the latter has breached its obligations in terms of EU law by failing to prevent or stop the use of the designation ‘feta’ on cheese produced in Denmark and intended for export to third countries.
While not rebutting the latter fact, Denmark counter-argued that the relevant EU regulation, namely Regulation No. 1151/2012, only applies only to products sold in the EU and its scope is not extended to cover exports to third countries.
The CJEU observed that the facts at hand fall within the scope of Regulation No. 1151/2012 so that the prohibition to use a registered name to designate products produced in the EU but not covered by the said registration, applies even if the products in question are intended for export to third countries.
The court highlighted the fact that the scheme for PDOs and PGIs has been established in order to help producers of products linked to a geographical area to attain fair compensation in return for quality of the product in question. This is done by ensuring uniform protection of the names as an intellectual property right within the EU, as well as by providing clear information on the value-adding attributes of the product to consumers.
The intellectual property rights enjoyed by such producers and the objective of enabling the consumer to distinguish quality products are breached whenever the designation of a protected product is used on other products which do not comply with the applicable product specification. This is so, irrespective of whether the product is intended for export to third countries or otherwise.
Hence, the CJEU concluded that the failure on the part of Denmark to impede producers from designating cheese produced in its territory and which does not meet the specific product specifications as ‘feta’, even though such cheese was intended for export to third countries, is in breach of EU law.
Achieving PDO status serves to protect the producers of unique foods hailing from a certain region from those who seek to take a free ride on years spent honing the requisite skills and identifying the best raw product required in producing quality foods.
To date, Malta is the only member state without any food awarded a GI protected status. However, this might not last long should the application filed by local producers for the protection of the product name ‘ġbejna tan-nagħaġ’ as a PDO be successful.
Mariosa Vella Cardona is a freelance legal consultant specialising in European law, as well as a visiting examiner at the University of Malta.