National Milk’s Mulhern: EU GI approach ‘bastardizing’
October 29, 2014 | 01:27 PM
National Milk Producers Federation CEO Jim Mulhern parted with the usually restrained and jargonistic world of agricultural trade negotiations Tuesday to present in colorful terms his views of attempts to include provisions in the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations that would use “geographical indicators” to determine that certain cheeses could only use place names if produced in the places where they originated.
In a speech to National Milk’s annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, Mulhern said that both Japan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union in T-PIP are trying to protect their dairy industries from U.S. competition, but he saved his choicest words for the Europeans.
“Entrenched European dairy interests don’t want more competition from the U.S.” Mulhern said.
“They don’t want a world of opportunities if it means having to compete for market share with a fully engaged U.S. dairy industry … the European defense strategy includes an outrageous focus on bastardizing the concept of geographical indicators in an attempt to claw back, for their own protectionist use, the names of many common foods. These foods include many cheeses that we've been making for decades — products like parmesan and gorgonzola, feta and camembert and asiago. Many of these cheeses were made popular in the U.S., by U.S. companies, not imports … but European companies are now trying to claim them for their exclusive use.”
“We’ve made a big push in Washington this year to educate our lawmakers about the threat posed by geographic Indicators,” Mulhern continued.
“And this is not just a U.S.-European spat. Many of the cheese companies that could lose their labels are in other countries that also have decades of history with common, historic names.”
“Christopher Columbus’s relatives in the Old World can keep their Parmigiano‐Reggiano. But those of us in the New World, the one Columbus discovered many years ago, have every right to make and market award‐winning Parmesan, for the use and enjoyment of folks here and, ultimately, around the world,” Mulhern concluded in his comments on the topic.
Mulhern's statements were part of a larger presentation in which he and National Milk Chairman Randy Mooney said that the organization would continue to push for immigration reform in the next Congress.
National Milk released a transcript of their presentation.
▪ National Milk Producers Federation — Remarks by Randy Mooney and Jim Mulhern at NMPF’s Annual Meeting
In a speech to National Milk’s annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, Mulhern said that both Japan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union in T-PIP are trying to protect their dairy industries from U.S. competition, but he saved his choicest words for the Europeans.
“Entrenched European dairy interests don’t want more competition from the U.S.” Mulhern said.
“They don’t want a world of opportunities if it means having to compete for market share with a fully engaged U.S. dairy industry … the European defense strategy includes an outrageous focus on bastardizing the concept of geographical indicators in an attempt to claw back, for their own protectionist use, the names of many common foods. These foods include many cheeses that we've been making for decades — products like parmesan and gorgonzola, feta and camembert and asiago. Many of these cheeses were made popular in the U.S., by U.S. companies, not imports … but European companies are now trying to claim them for their exclusive use.”
“We’ve made a big push in Washington this year to educate our lawmakers about the threat posed by geographic Indicators,” Mulhern continued.
“And this is not just a U.S.-European spat. Many of the cheese companies that could lose their labels are in other countries that also have decades of history with common, historic names.”
“Christopher Columbus’s relatives in the Old World can keep their Parmigiano‐Reggiano. But those of us in the New World, the one Columbus discovered many years ago, have every right to make and market award‐winning Parmesan, for the use and enjoyment of folks here and, ultimately, around the world,” Mulhern concluded in his comments on the topic.
Mulhern's statements were part of a larger presentation in which he and National Milk Chairman Randy Mooney said that the organization would continue to push for immigration reform in the next Congress.
National Milk released a transcript of their presentation.
▪ National Milk Producers Federation — Remarks by Randy Mooney and Jim Mulhern at NMPF’s Annual Meeting
