Joint report: Meeting of the Committee on Geographical Indications: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
December 16, 2024 (Ottawa / Videoconference)
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The sixth meeting of the CETA Committee on Geographical Indications (GIs) took place on 16 December 2024 via videoconference. Canada and the European Union (EU) engaged in an in-depth discussion of issues related to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provisions on GIs for agricultural products and foods, as well as other issues related to GIs.
CETA related obligations
Enforcement
The EU reiterated the importance of effective administrative enforcement for GIs in Canada and raised its concern with the outcome of previous GI-related labelling complaints that had been submitted to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and discussed at previous meetings. The EU repeated its concern that the CFIA did not find in favour of the complainants concerning alleged false and misleading labels and reiterated that the failure of CFIA to uphold any EU mislabelling complaints lodged to date would discourage other EU GI rights holders from filing such complaints with CFIA in the future.
Canada noted that CFIA’s mandate regarding false and misleading labelling does not include the assessment of alleged infringement of GI rights and that this was not required under the relevant obligation in CETA. Canada explained that the system that is in place and reflected in CETA is distinct from intellectual property and CFIA undertakes a whole of label assessment consistent with Canada’s labelling regime that has been in place even prior to CETA to determine whether a label is false, misleading, or creates an erroneous impression with respect to origin. The existence of a GI on a label is one factor that the CFIA will weigh in concert with all other elements on the label. In Canada’s view, the fact there has not been a positive finding of a misleading label by the CFIA, especially given the number of complaints submitted to date, is not indicative of the effectiveness of the system as it does not guarantee specific outcomes.
Canada once again clarified and emphasized that an assessment of whether there is GI infringement under Canada’s GI regime takes place through judicial enforcement under the IP system. EU recounted the positive recent developments in the Canadian marketplace where a number of EU GI right holders have successfully enforced their GIs through the IP system. However, the EU raised the issue of the financial toll this system places on smaller EU GI rights holders. Canada pointed out that the Canadian legal system is not particularly litigious and that disputes in this area have shown to be addressed through inquiry and the use of cease & desist letters, where contacting producers who may not have been aware of the EU GI rights can be an effective manner in addressing any issues. Canada reiterated its longstanding availability to engage with EU stakeholders to clarify any elements of Canada’s GI regime to inform GI right holders how to make use of the system.
Grandfathered users
The EU once again emphasised the importance of its request for Canada to create a list of grandfathered users of certain names protected under CETA in the Canadian marketplace to bring legal certainty to those producers who are legally entitled to use grandfathered names. EU emphasised that it is particularly difficult for small rights holders to identify operators who are potentially infringing their rights. Canada repeated that there is no obligation in CETA to develop a list of grandfathered prior users. Following this exchange, Canada provided an update on its Canada-Greece Table of Experts meeting held in December 2024, following a commitment by International Trade Minister Ng to hold a meeting on CETA and GIs with a particular focus on the issue of Feta cheese. The EU thanked Canada for this helpful initiative.
The EU updated the Committee on the progress and provisional outcomes of its ex-post evaluation of CETA, and noted the report should be finalised by March 2025. Preliminary findings indicate an overall positive effect as a result of CETA.
Other Geographical Indications issues
Other GI related issues were discussed, that were not directly related to the obligations of CETA:
- The EU requested an update on any pending EU GI applications in Canada. Canada noted that there were no requests for the protection of any EU GI being advertised on the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s (CIPO) website; however, Canada would maintain lines of communication regarding the publication of EU GIs.
- On the GIview database, the EU reiterated their offer to train Canadian public authorities, such as Provincial and/or Federal ministries or agencies, on GIview which would enable the relevant authorities to then provide updates to any information on Canadian GIs in the database. Canada explained that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) does not appear to be eligible to receive the training, and that Canada would need to determine who, if anyone would meet the definition and be able to act as a “responsible authority” for the purposes of the training.
- The EU provided an update regarding the implementation of the new Regulation on European Union geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, as well as the new Regulation on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products, both of which came into force in May 2024.
- The EU also updated the Committee on its negotiations with Indonesia, Australia, and Mercosur, while Canada updated the EU on the substantive conclusion of its negotiations with Indonesia.
Next steps
Canada and the EU reaffirmed their shared commitment to continue to cooperate and to work together to achieve progress in a number of these areas.
Participants:
European Union:
- Co-Chair: European Commission, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development, The Americas European Commission, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development
- European Commission, Directorate General for Trade
- Delegation of the European Union to Canada
Canada:
- Co-Chair: Global Affairs Canada, Director, Intellectual Property, Digital Economy, and Innovation Division
- Global Affairs Canada
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
- Canadian Intellectual Property Office
- Mission of Canada to the European Union
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