Creation of a European regional expertise label

8.4.2013

Question for written answer E-003816-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Jean-Luc Bennahmias (ALDE)

Conscious of the fact that labelling plays a key role in the marketing and protection of products manufactured using regional traditions, the European Union introduced three original labels under Regulations (EC) Nos 510/2006 and 509/2006, namely protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI) and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG). However, these directives only apply to agricultural products and foodstuffs, denying adapted protection for all sorts of traditional, high-quality expertise which respects the environment and creates jobs at local level.

For example, Marseilles soap and soap works in Provence are exposed to unfair competition from foreign companies, which abusively use the designation ‘Marseilles soap’ for soap which is Marseilles soap in name only. By ignoring the composition and manufacturing process of Marseilles soap, these undertakings are denying final consumers any guarantee of authenticity and depriving the local economy of an ancestral activity by selling counterfeit products at abnormally low prices.

1. Does the Commission intend to introduce a European label to guarantee the authenticity of traditional regional products other than agricultural products and foodstuffs?

2. Does the harmonisation of PDO, PGI and TSG labels provided for in European regulations deny Member States the right to create specific national labels for national products other than foodstuffs?

3. Does the Commission intend to negotiate with the WTO and WIPO in order to ensure that traditional expertise in products other than foodstuffs is protected under intellectual property law?

OJ C 229, 17/07/2014