G/TBT/W/469  
27 March  2018 
(18-1906) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
EUROPEAN UNION – QUALITY SCHEMES FOR AGRICULTURAL  
PRODUCTS AND FOODSTUFFS  
STATEMENT BY URUGUAY TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE,  
21 AND 22 MARCH 2018  
The following communication, dated  22 March  2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Uruguay . 
 
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1.  We would first like to thank the United States for including this item on the agenda , and we ask 
that Uruguay be added as a co -sponsor o f this Specific Trade Concern ( No. 33). As on previous 
occasions, w e also endorse the statement made by the delegation of the United States . 
2.  As you will recall, our delegation asked the European Union delegation on several occasions to 
provide us with updated informati on on the status of the Danish G overnment's 2012 application to 
have the term "Danbo" protected in the EU . 
3.  At each consultation, of which ther e were several, the response of the EU delegation was that it 
had no information to provide on th e application, as the process was still ongoing . Strikingly, 
perhaps, at the first two meetings, in March and June 2017, the delegation added to its customary 
response the assertion that matters relating to intellectual property rights should be handled 
under TRIPS and not here, attempting to ignore the fact that on 18 November 2013, in 
document  G/TBT/N/EU/139, the regulation  under which these rights are granted had been notified 
to the TBT Committee  by the EU itself.  
4.  However , despite the EU's claim that it had no news to report on the matter, 
on 19 October  2017, we learned of the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of 
Implementing Regulation 2017/1901, which registered the term Danbo as a protected 
geographical indication (PGI) . 
5.  Uruguay regrets that , despite numerous consultations and calls to reconsider the measure, the 
European Union has decided to register  the term Danbo as a geographical indication . 
This restriction on the free use of a generic term like Danbo will not only affect trade in this 
product, but will also set a dangerous precedent and create uncertainty in other, similar cases.  
6.  The European Union has chosen to protect a term that is clearly generic and concerning  which 
several Members of this Organization, including  Uruguay, raised objection s in 2012 . Its generic 
nature arises from , among other things, the widespread production and consumption  of the 
product , the common  use of the term, the presence  of a tariff item in the EU's TARIC system , the 
existence of regional  and international standards on Danbo production, and its inclusi on by 
the Government of Denmark in Annex B to the Stresa Convention . 
7.  With respect to production, it should be  remember ed that, in the EU, Danbo cheese is produced 
in Denmark , Germany and Ireland , and is also consumed in Austria, Belgium , Spain , Finland, 
Franc e, Germany , Ireland, Ital y, Luxembourg , the United Kingdom , the Czech Republic , Sweden  
and Hungary . It is also consumed in other European countries  that are not part of the EU , such as  
Norway, Switzerland and Russia, as it is in the US, Canada and Mexico . In South America, it is 
produced and consumed in Argentina , Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay . In fact, this last group of G/TBT/W/469  
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  countries not only observe s the Codex standard, but also has a technical regulation  
under  MERCOSUR (MERCOSUR/GMC/RES No. 29/96).  
8.  And it is precisely those standards that provide  irrefutable proof of how widespread the 
production and consumption of the product are globally . Danbo c heese, like many other 
cheeses,  has its own Codex standard , which  governs its production and labelling . That standard , 
Codex Stan 264 , adopted in 1966, is an international referenc e standard that has remained 
in effect, unchallenged, for over 50 years and that has been updated on several occasio ns, with 
the participation and approval  of the  European Union and its member S tates. Point 7.1 
of Stan 264, which addresses  "labelling",  clearly provides that "[t]he name Danbo may be applied 
in accordance with section 4.1 of the General Standard for the L abelling of Prepackaged Foods 
(CODEX STAN 1 -1985), provided that the product is i n conformity with this Standard ". 
9.  In addition, point  7.2 of the standard provides that "[t]he country of origin (which means the 
country of manufacture, not the country in whi ch the name originated) shall be declared" . Point 7, 
as a whole , is commonly interpreted as members'  recognition of Danbo as a generic term for a 
product that may be produced in a variety of location s so long as the requirements established 
under the standard are satisfied.  
10.  Consequently , the granting of an exclusive right to use a term that has been recognized as 
generic by the international community , as Danbo has,  is a twofold cause for concern . 
First, because  the approval  of this application will pr ove to be more trade -restrictive than 
necessary , and this may worsen  in the future owing to the extension of protection to 
third markets . 
11.  Second , because  an important Member of this Organization is choosing to undermine an 
international reference standard like Codex, raising doubts about the validity  and future  of such 
standards . Regrettably, we have seen Codex being attacked and undermined  not only in this 
Committee, but also in the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures . Without doubt, its 
weakening will translate into a lack of  predictability and legal certainty, which is nothing less t han 
a weakening of the rules -based multilateral trad ing system itself.  
12.  Lastly, I would like to provide a brief explanation of why a country like Uruguay, which is so 
distant  from Europe and Denmark, is interested in Danbo  cheese  and the term Danbo. 
13.  It was Denmark itself that promoted Danbo production around  the world through the technical 
cooperation offered,  together with the FAO, since the 1960s , which  Uruguay, along with a large 
number of countries from Latin America and other continents, accepted . 
14.  Historically, Denmark has deliberately promoted dairy pro duction beyond its borders through 
the transmission of knowledge . The Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) 
cooperation programme is a prime example . For m ore than fif ty years, the Government of 
the Kingdom of Denmark has sponsored  courses given  by Danish experts for Latin America n, 
Africa n and Asia n technicians . A notable feature has been t he teaching -learning process, both 
on-site in Denmark and in Latin America . These training sessions aimed  to transmit Denmark's 
theoretic al knowledge and  experience in the production of dairy products  to technician s from 
different continents,  and provide d hands -on experience in Danish processing plants . 
15.  Eventually,  the trainees started  integrat ing the knowledge and experience they had acquired  
with the rea lities of the countries they came from . This type of voluntary transmission, on the part 
of the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark, through training courses aimed at foreigners , 
occurred in the case of Danbo cheese . 
16.  The Danish Government's sponsor ship and promot ion of various types of training in dairy 
production  planted the seed, more than fifty years ago, for Danbo cheese production in our region . 
This seed has taken  root in Latin America . In the mid -1970s, Uruguay became a surplus producer 
of milk ( today it is seventh worldwide in dairy exports) and, through its exports, it developed a 
market in the America s for Danbo cheese, hitherto  unknown in the region . G/TBT/W/469  
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  17.  The argument being made here is not a new one ; rather, it reinforces what Uruguay has been 
saying since 2012 . The Danish G overnment has been the main proponent of the worldwide 
dissemination  of know-how and experience in Danbo cheese production, which has made  the term 
Danbo a generic good . And it is in part thanks to that initiative that we are pr oducers of this type 
of cheese . In Latin America, credit is due  to Uruguay,  and also Argentina, whose dairy industries 
have been able to take advantage  of the know ledge  and experience acquired through  the training 
promoted by the Government of Denmark more  than half a century ago . Argentina and Uruguay 
are now the largest producers of Danbo cheese outside the European Union . 
18.  We are sorry  to see this about -face in our friend's  position , which  goes against the spirit of 
this Organization . We therefore once again urge the European Union to reconsider this measure . 
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