European Union: 100-100 GI Agreement China – EU: Finally Official!

On 20 July 2020, the EU Council adopted an agreement on Geographical Indications (GIs), namely the "Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the People's Republic of China on cooperation on, and protection of, Geographical Indications".

This agreement, which took eight years to be negotiated, is the first comprehensive and significant bilateral agreement signed between the EU and China in this field.

The agreement is of milestone significance for economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU. It will ensure that 100 EU GIs, such as Asiago, Prosciutto di Parma, and Soave, are protected in China, and 100 China GIs, such as Anji White Tea, Pixian Bean Paste and Yantai Apple, are protected in the EU (for a full list please refer to List of Geographical Indications).

Further, the scope of protection will expand from 100 GIs to 275 GIs form each side after the agreement comes to force for four years. The agreement also has a mechanism which allows expansion of protectable GIs¹. European Commission Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said that the agreement is a double win².

It will help strengthen trade relations between Europe and China, benefit the agriculture and food industries as well as consumers on both sides.

The signature of the agreement has significant meanings.

First, the agreement shows that China-EU economic and trade relations have entered a stage of high-quality development.

Both the EU and China have a long history of food culture with enriched agriculture industries and high-quality GIs.

For a long time, the scale of trade in agriculture and agricultural products between the EU and China is increasing steadily and quickly.

The signature of the GIs agreement will bring more trading opportunities. The agreement shows a win-win spirit in bilateral trade relations.

Second, the agreement will benefit consumers by guaranteeing the origin, quality and authenticity of the product. GIs indicate goods that originated or produced in special areas and with certain conditions, such as special temperature, humidity, soil and so on. Thus, the goods produced there can have a special quality.

For example, only whiskeys that distilled and matured in Ireland can be labelled as "Irish Whiskey" and sold to China.

Further, according to this agreement "Once a geographical indication is protected under this Agreement, the products covered by that geographical indication may bear the official symbols of the geographical indication of the other Party in the territory of that Party"³. Symbols of GIs, especially from local authorities, help consumers to quickly identify high quality goods.

Third, the agreement shows that China has made positive progress in intellectual property rights protection. In China, GIs are mainly protected as certification and collective marks by the "China National Intellectual Property Administration" ("CNIPA"). This is a widely used form of protection in many countries.

There are also two other ways for GIs registration namely through the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China or the Ministry of Agriculture.

However, after the agreement comes to force, GIs trademarks protected by this agreement can be protected under its identical or similar designated goods, even without registering in any of the above three regulatory bodies⁴.

In sum, the Agreement demonstrates the efforts made by both China and the EU to protect GIs and promote trade between the two sides. It is foreseeable that the signing of the Agreement will provide stronger protection for GIs by both the CNIPA and the EU IP Offices and courts.

The Agreement is expected to enter into force by the end of 2020, we look forward to the implementation of it.

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