[Book Review] The Future of Geographical Indications: European and Global Perspectives

This is a review of the book, The Future of Geographical Indications: European and Global Perspectives (Edward Elgar, 2025), co-edited by Andrea Zappalaglio (University of Leeds) and Enrico Bonadio (City St George’s, University of London).

The volume is currently available in hardback.

The editor's introductory chapter reflects on the burgeoning research on geographical indications (GIs) in the thirty years since the signing of the TRIPS Agreement. The goal of the book is to promote a nuanced conversation about how GIs, with their origins in Europe, can be an effective form of IP protection in various local and global contexts. The book has two forewords from Justin Hughes and Irene Calboli respectively, which praise the relevance and importance of this book for the debate about the role of GIs in promoting economic development, environmental outcomes, cultural preservation, and food security.

The rest of the book is divided into four parts: international perspectives, European perspectives, comparative perspectives, and global perspectives.

International Perspectives

In this section, Matthijs Geuze reflects on the success of the Geneva Act in overcoming certain issues with the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration. Michael Blakeney gives an overview of the different legal frameworks in Africa, with particular attention to Kenya and Ethiopia. Roxana C. Blasetti examines the developments in Latin America, including the debates about extraterritorial effects of EU GIs through free trade agreements and the impact of climate change on GIs. 

European Perspectives

The section begins with a chapter by Andrea Zappalaglio on the relationship between GIs and the European common agricultural policy, especially the increasing focus on sustainable development, which led to the inclusion of sustainability standards and reporting requirements in the new agricultural GI regulation. Irina Kireeva and Bernard O'Connor discuss the harmonisation of GI protection through the new EU Regulation 2024/1143, which unified the various regulations for wines, spirits, and agricultural products.

Pilar Montero García-Noblejas considers the challenges of protecting craft and industrial products under the recent EU Regulation 2023/2411, including the different application procedures and compatibility with trade marks and domain names. Alberto Ribeiro de Almeida gives more critical attention to the new GI regulations. He highlights that the rules about the use of craft or industrial GI products as parts or components of another product are undesirably inconsistent with the rules for using agricultural GIs as ingredients, which means that the protections may be interpreted differently from the guidance in the Champagner Sorbet case. 

Anastasiia Kyrylenko and Vicente Zafrilla Díaz-Marta explore the future of geographical collective marks (GCMs) after the Halloumi case, which have a narrower scope of protection than GIs. Whilst GCMs were thought to be a helpful mechanism for producers to obtain "transitory" protection until their product is registered as a GI, in practice, they have not proven so useful due to limited enforceability. Kyrylenko & Díaz-Marta argue for a more coherent approach to ensure that GCMs actually benefit those who are most likely to use them.

Flavia Guerrieri discusses how the recent GI reforms have implemented the Farm to Fork strategy and how this affects the functions of GIs. For example, the strategy for the protection of seed security and diversity may overlap with the GI function of guaranteeing resource production by sustaining local resources. The chapter offers useful critiques to consider during the implementation of the new GI rules, such as pushing back on the assumption that all GIs are inherently "sustainable" and instead arguing that they must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

Comparative Perspectives

This section opens with a chapter by Xinzhe Song, who provides an overview of the experience in China. The system relies on a tripartite mechanism, but there was significant consolidation of the systems in 2018. There have been improvements under the newest laws, although it remains doubtful whether the vision of merging them into a unified system will manifest. Jayanta Ghosh discusses the GI law in India and the issues with implementing its registration procedure. The GI system has had positive effects on many Indian producers, but Ghosh recommends several changes to the legal framework to ensure better awareness and streamline the registration process.

Paula Zito discusses the Australian framework, which provides very different levels of protection for foods compared to the dedicated GI framework for wines and grapes. Zito argues that extending GI protection to foods would have many benefits, including putting Australia in a stronger trading position. The section closes with the chapter by Enrico Bonadio, Yentyl Williams and Bryan Khan, who review the history of GIs for Caribbean rum across the English-, French- and Spanish-speaking islands and explore the options for adopting pan-Caribbean protection for rum in the form of GIs or trade marks.

Global Perspectives

The final section begins with the contribution from Giovanni Belletti and Andrea Marescotti about GIs and sustainability. GIs are relevant to all three aspects of sustainability (economic, social and environmental), but their effects depend on many factors, such as evaluations that consider different perspectives and aspects of the production system. Natalie Corthésy examines the challenges for protecting country names and national branding. Corthésy discusses the clashes with trade mark law (a topic that continued to be relevant after the chapter was published with the continued litigation about the ICELAND trade mark) and argues for a global framework to allow countries to oppose trade marks that would negatively affect its national competitive identity. 

Barbara Pick closes the section with her discussion about how farmers' rights could shape GI initiatives. The discussion of farmers' rights has often centred on their relationship to plant variety rights and patents, and how to define farmers' rights (and "traditional knowledge") in the context of the Plant Treaty. This chapter explores the connection to GIs, from codifying traditional practices to the economic and non-economic benefits of GIs that could be seen as a benefit sharing mechanism for farmers and local communities.

Final Thoughts

Geographical indications have been a hot topic lately, particularly due to the new EU Regulations that become applicable in December this year. In that context, several chapters necessarily focus on description of the key features of these laws and other relevant frameworks around the world. However, readers will also find many critical insights into the trajectory of GI laws - both in Europe and beyond. The contributions also provide policy recommendations to make sure that GI laws can meet their objectives and address important concerns, especially sustainability and the climate crisis. Collectively, the chapters provide a forward-looking, contextual appraisal of GIs and their role in creating a more sustainable world.

Details

Publisher: Edward Elgar, 2025

Extent: 304 pages

Format: Hardback

ISBN: 978 1 03530 914 6