ARLINGTON, VA – The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) applauded the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) prioritization of common name restrictions as a primary trade barrier in their 2021 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report released last week.

The comprehensive, 570-page document captures the broad range of nontariff barriers for U.S. goods and services exports around the world. In the agency’s press release, restrictions of common food terms was cited as a priority trade impediment that American producers face when looking to export their generically named foods and beverages. In the report, USTR notes, “[t]he United States remains highly troubled by the EU’s overbroad protection of geographical indications (GIs), which adversely impacts both protections of U.S. trademarks and market access for U.S. products that use common names in the EU and third country markets.”

“USTR’s recognition of GI misuse as a means of confiscating market share is an important step toward proactively addressing this problem,” said Jaime Castaneda, CCFN Executive Director. “We are encouraged that CCFN members’ persistent work alongside the U.S. government on this issue has elevated the concerns surrounding GI abuse from a relatively obscure issue just a decade ago to a priority for the agency. It is imperative that USTR and its interagency partners work to ensure common names are not further restricted by the European Union’s blatant attempts at monopolizing generic terms that consumers around the world have come to know and love.”

CCFN continues to work alongside USTR to build upon the precedent set in the recent U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations on the inclusion of a list of common cheese names to be protected from GI restrictions in perpetuity. Similar proactive measures are necessary to ensure that products with common names can continue to be sold around the world without unfair limitations.

ARLINGTON, VA – A broad cross section of national food, agriculture and beverage associations called on new U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to preserve U.S. exporter’s market access rights by proactively protecting their rights to use common food and beverage terms around the world and rejecting EU-led efforts to hamstring global competition by monopolizing use of those terms. In their letter, the organizations called out the continued use of EU trade agreements to impose trade barriers barring U.S. and other competitors’ ability from competing on a level playing field in the sale of various common food and beverage products.

“Ambassador Tai is exceptionally qualified to lead the new Administration’s effort against the European Union’s repeated attempts to corner the market on generic food and beverage terms that are ubiquitous throughout markets globally,” said Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director of the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), which organized the letter.

In response to questions from Senators at her confirmation hearing, Tai noted that the U.S. secured historic protections for common food names in the USMCA. If confirmed to be USTR, Tai answered, Senators have her commitment to build on that success and to prioritize the use of common food names during future trade negotiations in addition to removing other non-tariff barriers to farmers and ranchers.

“Build Back Better means building better trade policy as well,” Castaneda continued. “Over 100 members of the House and 61 members of the Senate have made clear their desire to adopt strong and consistent U.S. trade policy objectives for concrete market access assurances for widely used common food and beverage terms. We look forward to working closely with Ambassador Tai and her team to translate that exhortation into real-world commitments that show that USTR has the backs of the American farmers and food workers making these products.”

The joint letter was signed by the following organizations:

Consortium for Common Food Names

American Farm Bureau Federation

Brewers Association

National Association of State Departments of Agriculture

National Council of Farmer Cooperatives

National Milk Producers Federation

North American Meat Institute

U.S. Dairy Export Council

Wine Institute

ARLINGTON, VA – The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) congratulates Ambassador Katherine Tai on her confirmation as the new United States Trade Representative.

“CCFN applauds the Senate’s confirmation of Ambassador Tai as the new U.S. Trade Representative,” stated Jaime Castaneda, Executive Director of CCFN.  “Ambassador Tai brings exceptional experience and strategic insights to the important work ahead of her. The global challenges facing U.S. producers that rely on common food and beverage terms to market their Made-In-America products around the world are mounting. CCFN looks forward to working closely with Ambassador Tai and her team at USTR to more effectively preserve U.S. market access rights for these products.”

In response to questions from Senators at her confirmation hearing last week, Tai noted that the U.S. secured historic protections for common food names in the USMCA. If confirmed to be USTR, Tai answered, Senators have her commitment to build on that success and to prioritize the use of common food names during future trade negotiations in addition to removing other non-tariff barriers to farmers and ranchers.

“We are eager to work alongside Ms. Tai and the USTR team to ensure the rights of U.S. food producers, retailers and consumers to market and purchase commonly-named products are not further restricted by deceiving EU trade practices,” Castaneda emphasized.