Lasagna topped with freshly grated “hard white cheese” doesn’t sound quite as appetizing, US cheesemakers say.
Cheese companies in the US are scared they’ll lose the ability to brand their products with terms like “parmesan,” “asiago,” and “havarti” as the European Union increasingly pushes for geographical indications. These trademark-type tools limit the use of regional descriptors when foods aren’t actually made in a given region. The effect would be similar to champagne: while the alcoholic beverage from the Champagne region of France can bear that name, if produced in the US, it’s just sparkling wine.
Most US producers agree such restrictive labels make sense for terms such as Bleu d’Auvergne, a blue cheese named for France’s Auvergne region. But when it comes to the EU and other foreign markets grabbing more common names, they’re concerned about being forced to re-label their cheeses and lose sales.
Trade groups came to Capitol Hill last week—fromage in tow—to press the Biden administration and Congress to do more to protect common names in trade agreements. They’ve already garnered some support from top lawmakers from key agricultural states, and are pushing to address the issue through the five-year farm bill reauthorization this year.
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Fonte: Bloomberg Government
