News & Resources

December 8, 2021

Over the first two quarters of 2021, the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) and a coalition of other U.S. dairy stakeholders aggressively defended the generic status of the term “gruyere” in the U.S. market against efforts by the Swiss and French gruyere Consortiums to monopolize use of the term.

December 8, 2021

In a testament to years of CCFN advocacy efforts to elevate the issue of GI abuse to U.S. government officials, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative highlighted the issue in its annual National Trade Estimate (NTE) report on tariff and non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports. The issue of common names was included in USTR’s press statement on the report, with the agency viewing the issue as a priority concern.

December 8, 2021

At U.S. Trade Representative Tai’s Senate confirmation hearing in late February 2021, Tai told Senators on the Finance Committee that she would prioritize protecting the use of common food names in future trade negotiations. She noted that the United States secured historic protections for common food names in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and that she would build on that success in future trade negotiations. This follows on the heels of CCFN’s extensive work throughout last year to re-educated Congressional offices on the issue of common names and to press USTR to expand protections for those terms as it negotiates with trading partners.

December 8, 2021

In May 2021, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued its Special 301 report on intellectual property protection, which included dealing with the misuse of GI protections as a trade priority. To help inform the report, in January, CCFN filed with USTR extensive comments, outlining GI-related developments, the roles of foreign governments in driving those policies, and the impacts on U.S. farmers and food producers.

December 8, 2021

The International Trademark Association (INTA) utilized ample input from CCFN in its comments to the European Commission on their consideration of non-agricultural geographical indications (GIs). CCFN regularly seized GI-related opportunities for comment offered by the EU and other countries in order to consistently outline the core elements of well-designed GI systems.

December 8, 2021

In June 2021, CCFN presented in a webinar sponsored by USPTO and the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) focused on the use of common names and GIs in Africa. Approximately 60 participants across the ARIPO 19-country region participated in the event.