By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU countries and lawmakers have reached a deal to protect the bloc’s traditional crafts and industrial products ranging from Murano glass to Solingen cutlery, with a new system aimed at boosting local areas and fighting counterfeits.
Proposed by the European Commission in April last year, the new scheme will replace national programmes in 16 EU countries and is expected to cover as many as 800 products in jewellery, textiles, lace, natural stones, cutlery, glass and porcelain.
The deal, finalised late on Tuesday, will also protect craft and industrial products’ domain name space and online use.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will help with the registration process.
The European Union already uses geographical indications schemes to protect products, food and wine from a given region, a key plank of its agricultural and trade policy that has occasionally prompted criticism from its trading partners.
“This new mechanism will not just help with raising the awareness of traditional products from less-developed regions, attract tourists and create jobs,” lawmaker Marion Walsmann said in a statement.
“It will also ensure fair competition for producers, helping them to fight counterfeit products while providing assurances for consumers that they are buying a genuine product with specific qualities,” she said.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
