Geographical indications for craft and industrial products: Council gives its final approval

The Council has adopted a regulation on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products.

This is the last step in the decision-making procedure. Once this regulation comes into force, the geographical indications (GI) of industrial products linked to the geographical area of production (such as Albacete cutlery, Bohemian glass, Limoges porcelain) will enjoy similar protection to regionally produced foods or beverages.

The adoption of the craft and industrial GIs regulation will also enable the EU to fully meet its international obligations under the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. To that end, the Council has today also adopted an amendment to the Council decision on the accession of the European Union to the 2015 Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, so as to designate the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) as the competent authority for the administration of the Geneva Act in the territory of the Union as regards geographical denominations of industrial and craft products.

The expertise, tradition and talent of our artisans are amongst the treasures that Europe has to protect. With the adoption of this regulation on geographical indications for manufactured products and the protection of these products in 59 countries under the Geneva Act, we are creating the conditions to protect the traditional know-how of our artisans and producers not only in Europe, but also internationally.

Héctor José Gómez Hernández, Spanish acting Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism

Importance of GI rules

The regulation will establish directly applicable GI protection for craft and industrial products (such as jewellery, textiles, glass, porcelain, etc.) at EU level, complementing the existing EU protection for GIs in the agricultural domain. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO will play an important role in implementing the new protection system, in particular as regards registration procedures for craft and industrial GIs.

Next steps

Following the Council’s approval today of the European Parliaments position on the regulation, the legislative act has now been adopted.

After being signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council in the coming days, the regulation will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication, in parallel with the Council decision adopted today.

Background

The regulation is one of the key proposals under the Intellectual Property Action Plan, which was presented by the European Commission in November 2020.

The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement is a treaty administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the protection of appellations of origin and their international registration. It covers not only appellations of origin but also geographical indications, allowing the international registration of both through a single registration procedure. The international registration system provides protection for names identifying the geographic origin of both agricultural products (such as coffee, tea, fruit and wine) and for craft and industrial products (such as pottery, glass and cloth). The EU needed to establish GI protection for craft and industrial products in order to be able to take full advantage of the protection offered by this treaty for non-agricultural products.