Geographical Indications Under Recent EU Trade Agreements

In recent years, the EU has increasingly moved towards securing protection of EU-based GIs through bilateral and regional general trade agreements. This article looks at five such agreements, namely those negotiated with South Korea, Colombia and Peru, the Central American countries, Canada, and Georgia. It comes to the conclusion that the EU has largely succeeded in achieving its negotiation objectives, including protecting vast lists of EU-based GIs in the territory of its trading partners, phasing-out certain forms of use of EU GIs, and providing for the co-existence of prior trademarks with the GIs covered by the agreements, among others. However, the article also highlights numerous differences between the agreements, in particular concerning aspects such as the scope of protection granted and the enforcement of GI rights. Moreover, it discusses general issues, such as the lack of direct applicability of the GI protection provided for by the agreements and its implications on the protection of foreign GIs in the EU.