Exclusive: Stilton, whisky and pork pies become the next Brexit battleground

The European Union will reject British demands for stronger legal protection for UK regional products such as Stilton cheese and Scottish whisky after the end of the Brexit transition period in trade negotiations next week. The UK agreed to keep EU protections for delicacies like champagne and Parma ham in place and in perpetuity in negotiations over the Withdrawal Agreement - but failed to secure the same guarantees for British products in the EU. While EU product protection is now enshrined in an international legally binding treaty, British products will only be protected under EU law if they remain on the EU’s register of Geographical Indications (GIs). “We have no intention of reopening the Withdrawal Agreement,” an EU source told the Telegraph. GIs are a kind of intellectual property right that protects the names of qualifying food or drink products from a certain area, preventing other producers from using them. Melton Mowbray pork pies, Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb, Shetland wool, Welsh lamb and traditional Cumberland sausage are among the 83 British products that have the protection. There are 3,347 EU GIs. There are 3,347 EU GIs which will now be protected in the UK after the Brexit transition period. That will prevent, for example, UK vineyards calling their white sparking wine Champagne. Deadlock and mutual recrimination The total GI sales value of UK protected products was worth about £7 billion in 2017, according to European Commission analysis published in April. Scotch Whisky is worth £5.5 billion to the British economy, and is the UK’s largest food and drink export, with global exports reaching £4.91 billion in 2019. The European Commission wants to agree a legal framework to guarantee protection for new EU GIs in Britain. The UK rejected an EU draft agreement in the last frustrating round of negotiations, which ended in deadlock and mutual recrimination. “The UK currently refuses to engage on our text even though it has accepted similar provisions in its agreements with other non-EU countries,” an EU source said. David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, told a parliament scrutiny committee on Wednesday: “The problem with the Withdrawal Agreement, which obviously we are committed to, is that it requires us to protect EU GIs in this country in perpetuity but does not place any such obligation on the EU to protect ours." Mr Frost, a former chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, added: “We would like to have something that is a bit more balanced and make sure that our GIs are properly protected."

source https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-stilton-whisky-pork-pies-093601115.html