EU Council Aauthorizes Formal Signing of China-EU GI Agreement

The Council of the European Union made a decision recently, authorizing the formal signing of the China-EU Geographical Indications Agreement. According to an announcement issued by the European Council, the agreement is the first significant bilateral trade agreement of its kind signed between the EU and China. It will ensure that each party's 100 geographical indications are protected in each other's market, thereby ensuring mutual respect for each other's fine agricultural traditions. The announcement stated that four years after the agreement entered into force, the scope of the agreement will be expanded to cover an additional 175 geographical indications from each party.

The negotiations on the said agreement started in 2011 and would go on for eight years. On November 6, 2019, the heads of both negotiation teams jointly announced the conclusion and then the formalities leading to the signing ensued.

Source: China IP News