Wine and cheese labelling has seen bitter battles within the EU.
Wine and cheese labelling has seen bitter battles within the EU.
The Government's decision to release the "pause" button on New Zealand's geographic wines and spirit register was part of preparatory work to get EU agreement for free-trade talks with New Zealand.
That much is widely accepted.
But when the EU-NZ talks begin, negotiations will almost certainly be extended well beyond wine and spirits to include bids by the EU to protect specialised foodstuffs as well, including some cheeses.
The New Zealand geographical indications (GI) register is for wine and spirits only and will be open for domestic or international producers.
It won't address any known current problem for New Zealand producers but will prevent others producing wines, for example, not only called Marlborough sauvignon blanc with "in the style of Marlborough", or "in the style of New Zealand".
Having an operational register is also likely to make it easier for New Zealand producers to register their geographical indications on foreign registers.
The bill, the Geographical Indications (Wine and Spirit) Registration Amendment Bill will automatically register the names "New Zealand," "North Island," and "South Island ," - though not "Kiwi."
The rest will be up to groups of producers to register a geographic indication collectively.
A New Zealand GI registration system for wines and spirits has been frozen since 2006 when a law setting it up was passed. The register was thought necessary at the time because there was a perceived risk that New Zealand wines could be shut out of Europe unless New Zealand had one.
Now the register will not only be activated, an amendment bill introduced to Parliament this week will refine the rules around it before it starts.
All wines and spirits produced with each registered GI will have to be from 100 per cent New Zealand product and 85 per cent from the geographic region registered.
Under the 2006 act, the requirement was 85 per cent only from the geographic region - which meant 15 per cent could have come from outside New Zealand.
And the registration will last only 10 years, not indefinitely.
Geographical indications are a branch of intellectual property and the register will be run by IPONZ, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand.
Wine and cheese labelling has seen bitter battles within the EU.
Just how far New Zealand will accept protections beyond wine will be tested in the trade talks.
Geographical indications began decades ago in Europe with Champagne and Scotch Whisky in Europe, but they moved quickly to the likes of Parma Ham and Roquefort cheese and even feta, which is associated with a country, Greece, rather than a region.
And members of the European Parliament want to go further. This year they asked the European Commission to extend GI protection to non-food goods known for their geographic origin, such as Bohemian crystal or Scottish tartan.
According to Business Europe, India in recent trade negotiations raised the issue of a geographic indication for Rajasthan's famous colours.
The GI system is highly sensitive in Europe, and more so as subsidies to farmers under the Common Agriculture Policy have been reduced.
That may be why they are sometimes viewed as protectionist, rather than redress for appropriation of gastronomic heritage.
The EU has its own systems to work out what products should gain geographic indication and once it is settled, the EU wants to get those GIs recognised more widely in its trade agreements.
In the recent EU free trade agreement it reached with Canada, it secured geographic indication recognition for 173 specified foodstuff and agricultural products - including for a kiwifruit called "Kiwi Latino."
A large battle went on within the EU about whether "feta" cheeses should get a geographic indication, with Greece arguing strongly it should.
Greece won the case and non-Greek feta producers cannot make feta or a cheese in the style of feta. They now make "white cheese."
