Bibliographie

Geographical indications (GIs) as distinctive signs and catalysts for local development identify local, national, European and international governance systems, regulated by heterogeneous rules and stakeholders. These rule systems can evolve, and their robustness and resilience can be challenged by external drivers. Among the objectives of the new Farm to Fork strategy of the Green Deal, the European Commission envisages the introduction of sustainability criteria in the EU GI sui generis system. This article gives an overview of the possible impact of these criteria on the GI rule systems at the local, national and EU level. It also describes some of the implications of the reform for producers’ groups and for national and EU authorities.

Recently the European Commission has launched two road maps affecting geographical indications (GIs) regulations from two different perspectives: one regarding a revision of agricultural products, wine and spirits regulations and another regarding intellectual property. In this second plan, special attention will be paid to upgrading the system for IP protection, by exploring ways to strengthen the protection system for GIs of agricultural products and considering the introduction of an EU protection system for non-agricultural GIs. This article aims to explore the principal challenges of reforming the GI legal regime, and the opportunity to establish core common principles for those rights by considering the unitary legal nature of GIs as an intellectual property right while analysing and preserving differences within each sector. The article shows the value of analysing GIs as an intellectual property right in a coordinated way, as an essential element of the EU Action Plan addressed to upgrade the EU IP system to facilitate the digital and green transition. The study analyses EU GIs case law, in comparison with other jurisdictions such as Spain.

The actual contribution of Geographical Indications (GIs) to sustainable development (SD) is a topic that is gaining increasing attention in the context of growing societal and political pressures. While empirical knowledge is still subject, there is evidence that GIs should assess their sustainability performances to communicate the inherent sustainable attributes of their products to consumers. However, measuring the sustainability of any system is a “wicked” issue and would require soft-system approaches, which are often missing in the current literature. These limitations pointed out, the present work aimed to consolidate the Qualimentaire Sustainability Assessment Tool (QSAT) in order to design a tool that is easy to use, robust, holistic, inclusive and action-oriented, and applicable to all dairy and cheese GI in France and beyond. To this end, Participatory Action Research was conducted with the Maroilles PDO. It resulted in an innovative evaluation framework, composed of 241 indicators based on the five dimensions of Economy, Environment, Social, but also Governance and Territory, and taking into account all GI stakeholders. The discussion underlines the importance of a bottom-up participatory approach as an essential prerequisite for the applicability of the results on the field and the appropriation of the tool by local actors. Results of this study showed that the QSAT functions as a catalyst for exchanges among GI actors and collective learning about SD and thus goes far beyond a simple evaluation grid. However, a number of trade-offs were observed regarding the initial research objectives, which called for the need to not only develop an evaluation grid but a whole methodology drew on the stepwise and participatory process presented here.

Using a new detailed dataset on country-product information on European Union (EU) Geographical Indications (GIs), we study the impact of this food quality policy on trade margins over the 1996–2014 period. We consider the effect of GIs on both intra- and extra-EU trade margins (extensive and intensive), as well as on export (and import) unit values. Our main results show that GIs affect trade flows differently depending on whether GIs are produced by the exporter or importer country. The presence of GIs in the exporter country systematically exerts a positive trade effect on both the extensive and intensive trade margin. When registered only in the importer country, GIs seem to act weakly as a trade-reducing measure, at least at the intensive trade margin. In addition, GIs positively affect export prices, consistent with the idea that GI products are perceived by consumers as higher quality goods. Importantly, extra-EU trade margins react similarly to those on intra-EU trade. These results have clear and interesting implications concerning the EU strategy of promoting the protection of GIs worldwide.

Short food supply chains are considered a tool for promoting the local economy and meeting consumers’ quality requirements. This paper analyses the case of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product that is marketed both worldwide and through a short supply chain (Parmigiano Reggiano). The case study shows that short chains can be an important trade channel for consumers, producers and rural development. Parmigiano Reggiano dairy factories with direct sales are more resilient than those without direct sales. The study also shows that the successful implementation of a short supply chain requires efficient governance.

La question de l’évaluation ex ante de l’impact des IG, qui se pose dans de nombreux projets de développement, est complexe. La nécessaire capacité de mobilisation et d’action collective des acteurs économiques peut être évaluée, mais la concurrence des filières conventionnelles et le cumul d’objectifs au sein des IG peuvent la réduire. Des processus d’innovation sont conjointement nécessaires et assurés par une tension permanente entre gouvernance sectorielle et gouvernance territoriale, induisant une multiplicité de trajectoires d’évolution. Many development projects try to assess ex ante the Geographical Indications’ impact which is a complex challenge. The economic actors’ involvement and collective action capacity is determining and may be estimated, but the competition with conventional supply chains and stakes’ multiplication within GI projects can reduce it. Innovation processes are jointly needed and allowed by a permanent tension between sectorial and territorial governances, leading to a multiplicity of evolution trajectories.

This study provides a worldwide panorama of current trends in Geographical Indications (GIs) as they relate to biodiversity conservation and rural development, and their potential contributions to poverty, hunger alleviation and environmental goals. When peasant and indigenous producer organizations decide to participate in the marketplace with a product that is not generic, GIs can be useful in developing and consolidating a differentiated geographical identity and a reputation, building quality systems and providing governance to value chains based on local biological resources and traditional and innovative knowledge and practices. Challenges and opportunities facing small producers from developing and transformation countries are identified, based on the experience of two dozen GI cases from all continents. GI implementation is described through cases that were selected to illustrate both tradition and innovation; contributions and threats to biodiversity conservation; the use of traditional and innovative knowledge and practices; economic benefits at different levels; and also governance issues. GI contributions to these aspects of sustainability are assessed qualitatively as ‘relevant’, ‘modest’ or ‘negligible’; and negative and positive trends are identified. Lessons drawn from the cases are presented in tables, grouped by component, distinguishing both opportunities and pitfalls. Finally, three cases are presented in which no GI has been registered as yet but discussions are underway.

The following pages will address, from a practical perspective, the factors that need to be considered in order effectively to support the promotion of, and adding value to, a traditional product of regional origin. While this document is dedicated primarily to association processes, it was deemed essential to clarify concepts and elucidate the legal implications of geographical indications, particularly by putting them into perspective with regard to trademark legislation. The first part of the paper is dedicated therefore to the legal aspects. In the second section, value-adding groups are defined in general and the promotion of traditional products of regional origin is discussed. Furthermore, the role of typical products in the dynamics of rural development is highlighted and initial insight into quality consortia is provided. The third part, which is the methodological component of the document, deals with the various issues that must be considered when creating and developing a quality consortium. This section discusses the factors that determine, firstly, the extent of the socio-economic benefits that consortium members can obtain through their involvement in the joint initiative and secondly, the degree of success a traditional product of regional origin may achieve in the market. It specifically addresses: the desirable characteristics of the product to be promoted; methods for launching a collective value-adding initiative; procedures for jointly developing and implementing common production rules; services a quality consortium can offer; ways of collectively promoting the product; the issue of expanding the quality consortium; the criteria for applying for a geographical indication; and the importance of external support. Although the document includes theoretical considerations, it is action-oriented and focuses on topics applying in the field. This objective is borne out in the many case studies provided in the text.

En s’appuyant sur les résultats du projet européen DOLPHINS (Development of Origin Labelled Products : Humanity, Innovation and Sustainability) , le but de ce papier est de contribuer à la compréhension des controverses dans les débats internationaux par l’analyse des réseaux d’acteurs qui participent de près ou de loin à la construction de ces instruments. Après avoir rappelé les enjeux et l’historique de la réglementation (section 1), nous analyserons comment et sur quelles justifications se sont développées dans différents pays européens (France, Italie, Royaume-Uni et Suisse) et au niveau de l’Union Européenne (UE) des politiques de protection et de promotion des Indications Géographiques (section 2), ce qui nous permettra d’analyser dans chacun des cas les phases de développement de ces politiques (section 3).