I don't have enough information from this article to agree or disagree with the US position.
They claim they brought the suit because they were being impeded from using geographic indicators. Yet, the EU spokepersons claims that wasn't the case.
So I don't know the basis of the concerns brought before the WTO.
ahh, here is something:
Quote:
EU Ready to Protect Florida Oranges
PAUL AMES
Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union said Wednesday it was looking forward to including Florida oranges and other U.S. products in its system of protecting traditional regional foods following a World Trade Organization ruling on the issue.
"Europe's system of protecting geographic names does not prevent access for products from other countries," said Claude Veron-Reville, trade spokeswoman at the European Commission.
"We are very much looking forward to registering names from other countries, not least the United States," she told reporters, adding that the EU's head office had yet to receive any requests to register American products.
The WTO ruled Tuesday on U.S. and Australian complaints against the EU system which says only foods produced in their original region can carry certain well-known labels.
Under the system, only ham produced using traditional methods near the Italian city of Parma can be called Parma ham, Roquefort cheese must come from its native region in southern France and Madeira wine from the Portuguese island of the same name.
Veron-Reville said the WTO ruling upheld the EU's system, while clarifying that products from outside the 25-nation bloc could also apply for similar protection.
"We do not see in the conclusions of the (WTO) panel any questioning of the European system of protection for geographical names, on the contrary," she said.
The United States on Tuesday claimed the WTO ruling as a victory.
"This is a big win for American farmers and food processors," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said in a statement. "We brought this case because we believed that, under WTO rules, U.S. farmers, ranchers and other food producers should have the same access to protection for 'geographical indications' as European food producers."
The WTO ruling will not be officially published until March, and Veron-Reville criticized Washington for going public early. "We regret the fact that the confidentiality rule which applies to these panel ruling has been infringed," she said.
U.S. officials said the ruling will help U.S. producers of such products as oranges and other citrus products from Florida, Texas and California, potatoes from Idaho and onions from Vidalia, Georgia.
There were varying trans-Atlantic interpretations of the WTO ruling's impact on the long-running battle between U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch Inc. and Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar NP over the rights to Budweiser, Bud, and related beer brand names.
Anheuser-Busch said the ruling meant the Czechs could not use regional label protection to claim the name Budweiser - the old German name of beer from the Czech town of Ceske Budejovice. The St. Louis brewer has brewed beer under the Budweiser label since 1876.
However, Veron-Reville said the WTO backed the EU's view that products with protected regional names could exist side-by-side with those protected by earlier trademarks. "The panel recognizes our coexistence scheme as being in total conformity with WTO rules," she said.
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So the issue becomes less clear when we are discussing trademarks or copyrights than when we are talking about oranges actually growing somewhere. This seems to fit into the trend of the EU having to feel its way around intellectual property concerns.
Regardless, now I have some more insight into why Mephisto is so enamored by the US position (it's his country's, too
)