WRITTEN QUESTION E-0121/00 by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission. Breach of the EU-South African Trade Agreement.
Date: 2000-01-27
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: South Africa, designation of origin, industrial counterfeiting, liqueur, spirits, trade agreement (EU), trade dispute

28.12.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 374 E/27

(2000/C 374 E/032)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0121/00

by Ioannis Souladakis (PSE) to the Commission

(27 January 2000)

Subject: Breach of the EU-South African Trade Agreement

South Africa(cid:146)s insistence on using the protected designations (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146) and (cid:145)grappa(cid:146) on its spirits products,
although they belong to the protected drinks of Greece and Italy respectively, casts doubt on the free trade
agreement recently signed between the EU and South Africa. This behaviour on South Africa(cid:146)s conduct in
this respect is causing problems in attempts at rapprochement between the two sides, especially following
the abolition of apartheid and the end of the country(cid:146)s decades-long international isolation.

It is advisable to avoid the infringement of EU agreements with third countries at the expense of the
specific interests of producer groups in Member States before the relevant agreements are concluded. Since
there are many similar agreements with third countries, the responsible EU bodies should in each case take
large numbers of protected products being
the preventive measures necessary to avoid the risk of
counterfeited.

Does the Commission take the safeguarding of protected designations for EU products into account during
the conclusion of free trade agreements and what measures is it taking in this particular case to protect
ouzo and grappa producers from the counterfeiting of these designations in South Africa?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(8 March 2000)

The negotiation of free trade agreements between the Community and third countries aims principally at
eliminating trade barriers between the parties for substantially all their trade. However the agreements also
deal with trade-related areas, such as protection of intellectual property. This has been the case with the
Community-South Africa agreement.

The negotiations which led to the Trade, development and co-operation agreement (TDCA) were closely
monitored all along by the Council, in compliance with the negotiating mandate adopted by Council,
in March 1996. Their outcome received unanimous support from Member States at the European Council
of Berlin in March 1999, and again in July 1999 when Council decided on the provisional application of
the TDCA. In October 1999, Parliament gave its assent to the TDCA.

As regards the protection of denominations for spirits, the denominations (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146) and (cid:145)grappa(cid:146) are fully
protected on the territory of the Community for the respective Greek or Italian products (1). No third
country product can therefore be imported and marketed within the Community under these denomina-
tions. At a multilateral
level, these two denominations are not currently protected under trade-related
intellectual property measures (TRIPs) rules. However it is the Community(cid:146)s strategy to negotiate bilateral
and multilateral agreements to secure the protection of these designations on third country markets. A
number of third countries,
including South Africa, remain opposed to such protection. However, the
bilateral agreements concluded by the Community with Mexico and Switzerland do contain the necessary
provisions for protection. Similar agreements are currently under negotiation with accession candidates
and neighbouring countries as well as Canada.

With respect to South Africa, the TDCA signed in October 1999 contains a specific reference to protection
of the geographical
indications (cid:145)port(cid:146) and (cid:145)sherry(cid:146) which are recognised under the multilateral TRIPs
rules (2). But the TDCA confirmed that protection of traditional spirits denominations such as (cid:145)grappa(cid:146)
and (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146), remain to be obtained in the separate wines and spirits agreement that has been under
negotiation with South Africa for the last three years. This separate agreement was originally foreseen in
the negotiating mandate on the main agreement which was given to the Commission in 1996. The
Commission negotiating team has been consistently pursuing the established Community position in the
matter.

C 374 E/28

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

28.12.2000

the South African government accepted a Community proposal

the
In February 2000,
denomination (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146) and the other traditional spirits denominations (3) for the corresponding Community
products at the end of a five year period of transition. Furthermore it was agreed with South Africa that
formal negotiations of the wines and spirits agreement will be resumed in March 2000 with a view to
conclusion by 1 June 2000 and entry into force on 1 September 2000.

to protect

(1) See Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 of 29 May 1989 laying down general rules on the definition, description

and presentation of spirit drinks (OJ L 160, 12.6.1989).

(2) See Annex X to the Council Decision 1999/753/EC, 29.7.1999 concerning the provisional application of the
agreement on trade, development and cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the
one part (OJ L 311, 4.12.1999).

(3) Grappa, Korn, Kornbrand, Pacharan, J(cid:228)gertee.

(2000/C 374 E/033)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0122/00

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(27 January 2000)

Subject: Protection of the designation (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146) in the EU-South Africa agreement

The new EU-South Africa agreement for easier access to the Community market for South African
products,
including wines and spirits, came into force on 1 January 2000. The agreement on drinks
provides for the protection of the designations (cid:145)port(cid:146) and (cid:145)sherry(cid:146), whereas there is no provision for similar
protection for the production and distribution of Greek (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146), a product with a designation of origin that
is produced in Greece and is entirely and exclusively associated with Greece, nor for Italian (cid:145)grappa(cid:146).

Why did the Commission make no provision for the protection of the designations of the traditional Greek
drink (cid:145)ouzo(cid:146) and the Italian (cid:145)grappa(cid:146)? Does it intend to do so now?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(9 March 2000)

Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 of 29 May 1989 laying down general rules on the definition, description
and presentation of spirit drinks (1) sets protective restrictions on the use of certain geographical and
traditional designations applied to spirit drinks marketed within the Community. Among these are ouzo
and grappa. Ouzo can be used only for aniseed-flavoured spirit drinks produced in Greece to defined
specifications.

Annex X to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the Community and South
Africa, signed on 11 October 1999 (2), makes specific protective provision only for the designations of
origin port and sherry and mentions no others. It does however make clear that a separate agreement
would be negotiated on wines and spirits, inter alia defining in more detail the commitments made on port
and sherry. In these negotiations, held in parallel with those on the global agreement, the Commission has
never left any doubt as to its determination to have the Greek name ouzo and the other traditional names
such as grappa included in the agreement. For some time the South African delegation was unwilling on
grounds of principle to accept such restrictive protection for traditional names and this prevented the
(cid:145)wines(cid:146) and (cid:145)spirits(cid:146) agreements from being concluded to the timetable originally planned. It was only in
mid-February that the South African Government accepted a proposal from the Community whereby it
will protect ouzo and the other traditional Community spirit names (3) after a five-year transitional period.
The spirits agreement, to be concluded before 1 June and enter into force together with the wine
agreement on 1 September, will set out the commitment in detail.