THE EU AND CHINA AGREEMENT ON GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS: ITALY LEADS WITH 26 APPROVED PGI OUT OF THE TOTAL 100 FOR EUROPE, A VERY IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT ACCORDING TO AICIG, IN A MARKET THAT COUNTS 3300 EUROPEAN PGI AND IS WORTH 54 BILLION EUROS

The European Union and China have formally published a list of 200 Geographical Indications - 100 European and 100 Chinese – considered "protected" by the mutual agreement to be signed in 2017. The list was published during the European Union - China Summit, where Italy emerged as leader boasting 26 PGIs, and facilitates the protection of those products from imitations and appropriations. It also intended as an agreement for mutual trade advantages as it aims to increase consumer awareness as well as increasing the demand for high quality products on both sides.
To date, there are more than 3300 Geographical Indications registered in Europe as well as 1.250 non-EU names that are protected in the EU, mainly due to bilateral agreements such as the one with China. In terms of value, the EU Geographical Indications market is worth approximately 54.3 billion euros accounting for 15% of total food and beverage exports.
There are 200 PGIs listed in the document published on June 2nd, and 26 of them are Italian, meaning Italy is the leader boasting the highest number of PGIs registered for international protection: Balsamic vinegar of Modena, Asiago cheese, Asti, Barbaresco, Bardolino Superiore, Barolo, Brachetto d'Acqui, Bresaola della Valtellina, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Dolcetto d'Alba, Franciacorta, Gorgonzola, Grana Padano, Grappa, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Mozzarella di Buffalo from Campanis, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Parma ham, San Daniele ham, Soave, Taleggio, Tuscan and Nobile di Montepulciano. Fortifying this bilateral cooperation agreement between China and the EU, will safeguard the important flow of imports of European agro-food products to China each year. This is very good news for European producers since China's agro-food industry is one of the largest markets in the world, and there are prospects for further growth thanks to the tastes of the new middle class that is increasingly choosing to consume European food products.
Leo Bertozzi, Secretary of The Italian Association of Geographical Indications (www.aicig.it) emphasized the importance of this agreement for Italian products explaining it is “a very important achievement that started in 2012 with the registration of a first group of 10 European and 10 Chinese Geographical Indications. This result signals three interesting issues: it demonstrates the importance of Geographical Indications at an international level; opens the door to a further extension of the PGI 100 group to other denominations in the future, and above all, belies the action of the Consortium for Common Food Names founded in the United States to oppose the protection of EU-registered denominations, therefore contrary to China, which is instead carrying forward an important policy of registering European PGIs”.