G/TBT/W/608  
 
22 March 2019  
(19-1784) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
EUROPEAN UNION - QUALITY SCHEMES FOR AGR ICULTURAL  
PRODUCTS AND FOODSTU FFS 
STATEMENT BY THE UNITED STATES  TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS T O TRADE  
6 AND 7  MARCH  2019 
The following communication, dated 21 March 2019 , is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States . 
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1.  The United States would like to raise two issues with regard to the EU's registration process for 
protected geographical indication (PGI) – first regarding the app lications for "danbo " and "havarti " 
cheese, and second regarding the notification of G/TBT/N/EU/593.  
1  HAVARTI/DANBO APPLIC ATIONS:  
2.  First, the United States remains concerned with the registration of the name "danbo " as a 
protected geographical indication (P GI), with a complete disregard for the international standard in 
Codex.  
3.  Furthermore, we feel the application under consideration for the name "havarti " also lacks 
transparency, particularly considering the existing Codex standard for havarti.  
4.  We reiterat e that we found the EU's consultation process with regard to these registrations 
unsatisfactory. Moreover, our interventions at the TBT committee have not resulted in additional 
clarity. In particular, we seek to understand how the Commission considered th e existing Codex 
standards for both danbo and havarti.  
5.  To that end, we would also like to reiterate our opposition to the EU granting GI protection for 
harvati because there is an international Codex Alimentarius standard for havarti, which Codex 
members – including the EU – reconfirmed in 2007, 2008, and 2010.  
6.  The Council's own decision on the EU's accession to the Codex Alimentarius Commission affirms, 
"Codex standards have acquired increased legal relevance by virtue of the reference made to Codex 
in the WTO Agreements and the presumption of conformity which is conferred on national measures 
when they are based on such standards. " 
7.  The EU and its Member States also supported and agreed to the Codex Committee for Milk and 
Milk Products Individual Cheese standards, which contain labeling provisions under section 7 that 
preserve the generic nature and use of the names of these cheeses.  
8.  Both danbo and havarti underwent a rigorous review to prove their use in public domain and 
international trade.  
9.  We again w ould like to ask if the Commission's view of the legal relevance of Codex standards 
changed since the publication of the Council Decision?  G/TBT/W/608  
 
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  2  NEW NOTIFICATION  - G/TBT/N/EU/593  
10.  Second, we would like to better understand the EU's proposal to amend EU regulation  
No. 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, as well as other 
regulations pertaining to GIs outlined in TBT notification G/TBT/N/EU/593. We submitted comments 
to the EU's notification on 19 October 2018, and to date have rece ived no response.  
11.  In general, we are concerned about many of the proposed amendments, as they appear to 
exacerbate rather than alleviate our existing concerns. We will highlight some of those concerns 
here, but seek further bilateral discussions on these i ssues. In addition, per our comments, we urge 
the EU to rescind the elements of the Proposed Amendments that will exacerbate our concerns.  
12.  The proposal appears to shift authority from the Commission to member states, giving member 
states greater flexibilit ies and control over GI applications. We urge the Commission to retain this 
function without modification to ensure uniformity and predictability across the EU.   
13.  More concretely, how would this proposal affect existing applications such as havarti? Would 
Denmark now take control of the application or will these proposals only apply to new applications?  
14.  Under the new proposal, how will the EU Commission ensure member states adhere to TBT 
commitments including the use of international standards?  
15.  We are also c oncerned that the proposed extension of the "protection " of EU GIs to in -transit 
goods would exacerbate concerns the United States has regarding the negative market access effects 
of the EU's protection and enforcement of GIs in the EU and third -country ma rkets for U.S. producers 
and traders.  
16.  We are also concerned that the Proposed Amendments will truncate the opposition period on 
GI registrations.  
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