WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The European Union-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was provisionally implemented today. Of deep concern to the U.S. dairy industry is the automatic protection the EU gained for five generic cheese names: “asiago,” “feta,” “fontina,” “gorgonzola” and “munster.” The International Dairy Foods Association believes the EU has once again used geographical indications (GIs) to erect trade barriers.
U.S. cheese manufacturers that began producing those types of cheeses after October 18, 2013, will be required to add qualifiers, such as “kind,” “type,” “style” and “imitation” for sales in Canada. These new limitations on the use of generic names clearly violate Canadian intellectual property procedures and existing international trade commitments.
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