House Passes Farm Bill with Groundbreaking Common Name Protections
April 30, 2026
ARLINGTON, VA – The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) today applauded the U.S. House of Representatives for passing a Farm Bill that includes the Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields (SAFETY) Act, a landmark measure to defend American producers’ right to use common food names in global markets.
The bipartisan SAFETY Act would direct USDA to partner with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to make the protection of widely used terms like “parmesan,” “chateau,” and “black forest ham” a priority in international trade negotiations. The legislation is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, Jim Costa, D-CA, Michelle Fischbach, R-MN, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA.
“Today’s vote sends a powerful message: the United States Congress not only supports the Administration’s ongoing efforts to protect common names, but is also committed to fighting back in a sustained manner against the European Union’s efforts to weaponize geographical indication policies and shut American producers out of global markets,” said Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director of CCFN. “We commend Chairman Thompson, the House Agriculture Committee, and our bipartisan Congressional champions for their leadership in getting this bill passed in the House. We are encouraged by this milestone and committed to working with members in both chambers to carry this momentum all the way to enactment.”
Since 2009, the EU has leveraged its geographical indication (GI) system and trade agreements to claim widely used food names for the exclusive benefit of European producers – restricting competition, monopolizing key markets, and forcing American farmers and manufacturers to absorb lost export opportunities and mounting legal costs.
Over the past year, the Trump Administration and U.S. negotiators have made significant progress on this issue, making the protection of widely used food and beverage names a cornerstone of recent reciprocal trade agreements. The SAFETY Act builds on that progress, codifying in law the approach USTR has already demonstrated works in practice, and ensuring that these protections become a durable, consistent feature of U.S. trade policy going forward.
Castaneda added, “Every time a foreign government bends to EU pressure on GI policy, common name producers in the U.S. and around the world are harmed. The SAFETY Act is about fairness and coexistence. While the Europeans would rather not compete, we are committed to making sure that the countless outstanding quality common name products produced in the United States are available for consumers in both old and new markets. We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate to get this done on behalf of common name producers and consumers everywhere.”
