ARLINGTON, VA – Today, the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) praised the current Administration for their proactive defense of common names during U.S. Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip’s two-day trip to Wisconsin to meet with U.S. dairy industry representatives and amplify U.S. government efforts to protect common food and beverage names.

McKalip discussed the set of commitments outlined by the US-Chile agreement, which will safeguard the rights of U.S. cheese and meat exporters to use certain common names – such as “parmesan” and “prosciutto” – to market and sell their products in the Chilean market.

“CCFN greatly appreciates the work of USDA and USTR to proactively work to defend common names with a key country. Ambassador McKalip is demonstrating that we can pursue a win-win situation of coexisting with products from Europe,” said Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director. “However, Chile is just one of many markets that the European Union has targeted to monopolize common names. Looking forward, it’s critical that the U.S. government create the necessary leverage to secure the protection of export opportunities for common name producers in other markets as well.”

Throughout his meetings this week with dairy and meat producers, processors, and industry organizations, McKalip elaborated on the efforts by US government to balance the EU’s aggressive stance on GIs and spent time learning about the industry’s wider set of trade challenges and priorities.

Please find more background on common names at www.commonfoodnames.com and CCFN’s response to the U.S.-Chile agreement here.

ARLINGTON, VA – The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) commended the passage into law of commitments by the Chilean National Congress last week that safeguard the rights of U.S. cheese and meat exporters to use certain common names – such as “parmesan” and “prosciutto” – to market and sell their products in the Chilean market.

The agreement came together following an exchange of letters between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Chile’s Undersecretary of International Economic Relations Claudia Sanhueza on June 21, which confirmed a mutual understanding and agreement that U.S. exporters will be able to continue to market their products in Chile using a number of common cheese and meat terms.

Certain provisions under the EU-Chile trade agreement signed in December 2023 enabled the unfair treatment of U.S. meat and dairy products by abusing geographical indication protections. In response, CCFN, NMPF and USDEC worked closely with U.S. and Chilean government officials to address the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement’s (FTA) threats to U.S. cheese and meat products.

Included in the agreement is a mutual understanding regarding “prior users” of certain cheese and meat terms in the market. For a limited number of products that the EU allowed to be grandfathered and that American exporters had exported to Chile prior to the updated FTA, all U.S. producers of those products will have the right to continue to use those terms in Chile. In addition, an extensive list of common names will also be protected for use in Chile for all U.S. producers. The exchange of letters is now integrated into the FTA between the two countries and is subject to its provisions, including the FTA’s enforcement measures.

“CCFN applauds the Administration for their initiative to negotiate the protection of parmesan and a number of other key products,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director for CCFN. “We greatly appreciate USTR and USDA’s work with the Chilean government and urge the Administration to continue its efforts to push back against the European Union’s strategic monopolization of common names. To that end, it’s vital that the U.S. establish a firm policy of proactively seeking protections for common name products with key trading partners all around the world.”

“Chile is a critical market and partner for U.S. dairy in Latin America,” said Krysta Harden, president and CEO of USDEC. “We greatly appreciate USTR and USDA for their hard work to strengthen this relationship, which will directly help U.S. producers grow their businesses in Chile. We look forward to continuing to work together to create new avenues for U.S. dairy exports and to avoid similar challenges from cropping up in other international markets.”

“This agreement is a milestone for U.S. dairy producers,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “It ensures that many of our products will maintain fair access to the Chilean market, supporting the growth and success of American dairy farmers on a global scale. Now, we need to build on that momentum by securing agreements with other trading partners to protect export opportunities for even more U.S. cheeses.”

The agreement will enter into force 90 days from the National Congress’ Sept. 3 approval.

ARLINGTON, VA – Last week the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee Chair included the Safeguarding American Value-Added Exports (SAVE) Act as a part of its farm bill reauthorization legislation. The first farm bill effort on common names, the SAVE Act would promote the protection of common food and beverage names – such as “parmesan”, “chateau” and “bologna.” The Act is co-sponsored in the House by Representatives by Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, Jim Costa D-CA, Michelle Fischbach, R-MN, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA, and in the Senate by Sens. John Thune, R-SD, Tammy Baldwin, D-WI, Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Tina Smith, D-MN. “Over the past decade, the European Union has been allowed to aggressively misuse and abuse geographical indications to monopolize common name products across several key markets,” said Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director of the Consortium for Common Food Names. “The SAVE Act is an important step in the right direction to making sure that our producers can fairly compete in the global marketplace.” Beyond the European market, the EU has forced countries around the world to disregard their intellectual property laws and existing commitments with the United States to impose protectionist geographical indication rules under the pretenses of free trade agreement negotiations. In many cases, these policies block U.S. and other producers from reaching important international markets. “The SAVE Act will help support the current and future Administrations in taking action to protect common names, and in turn, the rights and commercial interests of domestic producers,” Castaneda stated. “The U.S. has the political and economic resources to reverse this trend, and we believe the SAVE Act is the beginning.” Many agricultural producers in the United States and around the world depend on common food and beverage terms – such as parmesan, chateau, or bologna – to market and sell their products. Since 2009, the EU has used trade negotiations and intellectual property rules to confiscate common names for their own producers – essentially monopolizing certain products in specific markets. For American farmers and producers, this leads to lost opportunities overseas and expensive fights domestically, in addition to fewer choices for consumers. Recently, there have been significant efforts from the private sector to defend common names, including a favorable U.S. Court of Appeals ruling last year.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation, and Consortium for Common Food Names commended this week’s House Ways and Means Committee markup of a bill that would renew the Generalized Systems of Preferences (GSP) trade program with new agriculture-specific eligibility criteria, giving U.S. dairy producers a fairer opportunity to sell their products in key markets. GSP has not been in effect since it expired at the end of 2020. The GSP trade program helps developing countries use trade to grow their economies by eliminating U.S. duties for a wide range of products. GSP-eligible countries must meet certain conditions. Today’s bill will introduce new provisions for the agriculture industry, including requirements that beneficiary countries provide open and equitable market access to U.S. agriculture exports and protect the generic use of common food and beverage terms like “parmesan” and “feta.” “The U.S. dairy community is grateful for these expanded criteria, which will enable America’s dairy farmers and producers to compete on a level playing field in these new and growing markets,” said Krysta Harden, USDEC president and CEO. “A special thank you to Representatives Adrian Smith, Jimmy Panetta, and Michelle Fischbach, who continue to be champions for the U.S. dairy industry. Now more than ever, our members count on exports to succeed, and we look forward to supporting this bill through to the finish line.” “American dairy producers and cooperatives rely upon fair access to international markets,” said Gregg Doud, NMPF president and CEO. “We’re thankful for Representatives Smith, Panetta and Fischbach’s leadership on preserving market access for U.S. dairy exports and sending a message to competitors who try to create an unlevel playing field.” As the European Union continues to try to monopolize common name foods and beverages by imposing overreaching geographical indication policies on countries worldwide, the new GSP eligibility requirements would provide a vital response on behalf of American cheesemakers. “The European Union has expanded its protectionist and anti-competitive campaign to monopolize common name food and beverages well beyond its borders, to countries in every corner of the globe,” said Jaime Castaneda, CCFN executive director. “The U.S. government has the political and economic influence to fight back. We’re pleased to see that Congress is starting to utilize the tools at its disposal to secure producers’ common names rights.”