EU-China agreement on protection of geographical indications

SUMMARY OF:

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE AGREEMENT AND THE DECISIONS?

The agreement aims to ensure a high level of protection to the EU geographical indications (GI) listed in its annexes in the EU and in China, and to strengthen the cooperation on GI-related issues between the EU and China.
Decision (EU) 2020/1111 approves the signing of the agreement by the EU and Decision (EU) 2020/1832 concludes the agreement on behalf of the EU.

KEY POINTS

Geographical indications

A GI is a distinctive sign used to identify a product whose quality, reputation or other such characteristics relate to its geographical origin.
GIs form part of the EU quality schemes set out in Regulations (EU) No 1151/2012 (see summary), No 1308/2013 (see summary) and No 2019/787 (see summary).

Scope

The agreement applies to the recognition and protection of GIs for products originating in the territories of the 2 parties and listed in Annexes III, IV, V and VI of the agreement.
The 2 parties agree to consider extending the scope of the agreement to include additional GIs.

Established geographical indications

The agreement sets out the essential elements for protecting GIs, including administrative processes and checks, and an opposition procedure to protect prior users of names.
Technical specifications are set out in Annex II.
Each party agrees to protect the GIs of the other. The respective GIs are set out in Annexes III, IV, V and VI of the agreement.

Protection

GIs listed in annexes to the agreement are protected against:

any wording or presentation that indicates or suggests that the product originates elsewhere than its true place of origin;
any use to identify a comparable product which does not originate in the place indicated by the GI in question, even if the true origin of the goods is indicated or the protected name is translated, transcribed, transliterated or accompanied by expressions such as ‘kind’, ‘type’, ‘style’, ‘imitation’ or similar;
any use to identify a comparable product not compliant with the product specification of the protected name.

Rights

A protected name can be used on any legitimate product conforming to the GI technical specifications and the laws of the party concerned.

Trademarks

Both parties agree to annul or refuse to grant a trademark which breaches the rules protecting GIs, if an application to register to the GI preceded the trademark application.

Implementation

A Joint Committee, consisting of representatives from both parties oversees the implementation and functioning of the agreement.

Cooperation

The parties agree to cooperate with a view to supporting implementation of the commitments and obligations undertaken in the agreement.

DATE OF ENTRY INTO FORCE

It entered into force on 1 March 2021.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

Quality labels (European Commission)
Geographical indications (European Commission)
Trade — China (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENTS

Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on cooperation on, and protection of, geographical indications (OJ L 408 I , 4.12.2020, pp. 3-43)

Successive amendments to the agreement have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Council Decision (EU) 2020/1832 of 23 November 2020 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on cooperation on, and protection of, geographical indications (OJ L 408I , 4.12.2020, pp. 1-2)

Council Decision (EU) 2020/1111 of 20 July 2020 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on cooperation on, and protection of, geographical indications (OJ L 244, 29.7.2020, p. 8)