Geographical indication of Greek spirit drink

Subject: Geographical indication of Greek spirit drink

Ouzo is one of the universally accepted products of traditional Greek gastronomy. Greece has submitted an application to the European Commission for registration of the geographical indication ‘ouzo’ in the International System of the Lisbon Agreement of the World Intellectual Property Organization.

It is important for ouzo to be included in the list of protected EU geographical indications, not only because it is a proven Greek product, but also because this recognition provides a significant bargaining chip during EU talks with third countries for the bilateral recognition of geographical indications.

Greece is not a party to this agreement, unlike the European Union.

The registration initiative is undertaken by the European Commission.

The Commission has stated that it will screen the applications it receives from Member States and will not register all of them, yet it has not specified the selection criteria.

In view of the above:

Will the geographical indication ‘ouzo’ be included in the final list of geographical indications to be sent to the World Intellectual Property Organization?

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (5 March 2021)

The Commission is preparing a list of EU geographical indications to be entered in the International Register under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement. A request for international registration of the name ‘Ούζο’, which is a Greek but also Cypriot geographical indication, was submitted by Greece.

The Commission assures the Honourable Member that it has not stated that it will screen and select the requests it receives from Member States.

The Commission will adopt a decision in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 (1), listing the geographical indications to be submitted for international registration. In this context, it will check the formal completeness of the application forms sent by Member States to ensure compliance with the requirements of the international register.

⋅1∙ OJ L 271, 24.10.2019. | | ( | | )