All the world famous Italian cheeses will be excluded from brand protection in Japan. The news has been reported by Assolatte – the association of Italian dairies producers – after reading the contents of the recent agreement between the Asian country and the European Union. Unfortunately, this seems to be the content of the EU-Japan agreement signed a few weeks ago – states Giuseppe Ambrosi, President of Assolatte. This deal foreshadows a far from positive future for our cheese exports in Japan. Each and every one Italian PDO cheese included in the agreement is subject to exceptions which, in fact, allow counterfeiting.
A food sector at risk
Assolatte also reminds how it managed, working together with national and European authorities and not without difficulty, to make the bilateral agreement include 10 Italian PDO cheeses (out of the 19 PGIs included in it). That is to say 100% of the PDO cheeses currently exported to Japan, none excluded. An effort that is frustrated by the agreement’s outcome. The so-called ‘guarantees’, in fact, do not exist. The exceptions and extensions that accompany them make the entire European Geographical Indication system meaningless – continues Ambrosi. It is an unforgivable mistake that damages our industry and offends us.
A useless ‘protection’
Assolatte had given its green light to some limited and temporary exceptions, aware of the need for a certain degree of flexibility to achieve full protection for Italian PDO cheese in the next few years. But the list of Geographical Indications published by the European Commission has completely deleted the protection of Italian cheeses, in fact deregulating the phenomenon of Italian sounding. For example, brands such as Grana Padano and Pecorino Romano will be protected, but anyone will be allowed to produce or sell a “grana”, a “padano” or a “romano”, made who knows where and who knows how. The real ‘masterpiece’ of this “only on paper protection” was achieved with Parmigiano Reggiano, ironically states Assolatte. A small asterisk clarifies that the PDO is safe, but anyone willing is now allowed to register the ‘parmesan’ trademark in the Japanese market, in spite of the Geographical Indication recognition and despite decades of work. The terms negotiated with Japan are the worst ever concluded by the European Union in a commercial agreement – concludes Ambrosi – and constitute a dangerous precedent. We hope that the European Parliament, called to give its green light to the agreement, will reconsider. Negotiations, on which Assolatte is working with great determination, are currently under way with China and Mercosur countries as well. In light of the outcome of the bilateral agreement with Japan, the association hopes for a better involvement and a stronger presence of Italian authorities in support of such a strategic sector for food exports.