The European Union was likely to include the right to geographical indications in any free-trade agreement with New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told a public meeting last month.
The EU defined a geographical indication or GI as a distinctive sign used to identify a product as originating in the territory of a country, region or locality.
Famous GIs include Champagne wine, Feta cheese and Parma ham. The tag was also applied to Scotch whisky, Cognac, Roquefort cheese, Sherry, Parmigiano Reggiano, Teruel and Tuscany olives.
At a recent public briefing on the Government’s Trade Agenda 2030, Martin Harvey, NZ’s lead negotiator for the EU FTA talks said Europe had a “particular yearning” to extend geographical indications beyond wines and spirits.
If the European Union’s recent free-trade deals were a guide, several hundred products could be listed as geographical indications in a Kiwi FTA.
Cheese and processed meats would probably be on the register, Harvey said.
“The area of dairy is a particularly sensitive one.”
Given the sensitivity of the trade negotiation Harvey said he could not comment on whether NZ would consider reciprocating with its own GIs.
“You’re asking me to talk about negotiating strategy and I don’t want to talk about that in public.”
University of Canterbury trade and economic law expert Riffel chaired the Trade Agenda 2030 briefing in Christchurch.
He referred to an EU website that suggested manuka honey was just as geographically distinctive as Feta.
The EU website said feta cheese “is not named after a place but is so closely connected to Greece as to be identified as an inherently Greek product”.
Based on this definition, Riffel said, NZ farmers could use geographical indications as a tool to market agricultural products of Kiwi origin overseas.
If NZ chose to adopt EU-type policy for GIs it might be possible to trademark use of the word manuka without the addition of a place name, he said.
Riffel said te reo and Maori culture generally gave NZ products like manuka honey instant provenance and marketability.
One of the most active marketers of Maori and NZ provenance was the state-owned farmer Landcorp with the Pamu brand. It had partnerships with Duncan Venison and Australian retailer Prestige Carpets.
Pamu was a Maori word meaning to farm.
Landcorp spokesman Richard Ninness said Pamu was “a story of care, management of farms, environment, people and product.”
Pamu brand manager Emma Adcock said food service and retail partners recognised Pamu as a distinctively NZ brand and the name represented an “authentic connection to both the corporate brand and customer-facing brand.”
Landcorp was looking at opportunities to extend the use of Pamu into lamb, dairy and other products but would first consider factors such as volume, seasonality and potential to add value, she said.
An NZTE spokeswoman said it did not give advice to companies on legal protections for their products but it did support “coalitions”, including Maori businesses, working together for a common purpose.
