Cheese Importers Taking Side of Milk Producers on Geographical Indications
The panel deciding which French products should face Section 301 tariffs was intrigued by a point made by the Cheese Importers Association of America -- who could pay more on 21 Harmonized Tariff Schedule headings if all the proposed tariffs are included.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Emily Lyons, an attorney with Husch Blackwell speaking Jan. 8 on behalf of the organization, said some of these same cheeses are also considered for a change in products being hit by tariffs to punish the European Union for Airbus subsidies. Because of the possibility that they'll have to pay more for cheese, companies have instituted hiring freezes and put on hold capital investments, she said.
Lyons said the CIAA believes that European dairy products are getting targeted in disputes over aircraft and taxation because of the European Union's insistence on “geographic indications,” such as feta from Greece or Roquefort from France or Asiago, Parmigiano (parmesan) or Pecorino from Italy.
If you make feta in the U.S. (or in Denmark), you aren't allowed to market it as that, but rather have to describe it as a “white cheese.”
So CIAA recently sent a letter to its vendors in Europe saying that while connecting names to a specific region, where the cheese is described in that country's language, with a GI is legitimate, “common cheese names should not be provided protected GI status. This includes cheese names that have a commonly recognized definition or product description in the tariff schedule or an accepted international standard, such as Codex Alimentarius standards or U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards of identity,” the letter said.
Panelists tasked with evaluating the testimony asked Lyons how the letter was received. She said it was difficult for the board to take a position on GIs, but felt that they had to because of the rounds of tariffs targeting European cheeses. She said the association's member companies are paying the tariffs, not the EU officials who limit the name use for sales within Europe and are now asking trading partners to do the same.
She said the letter has gotten mixed reactions. Some smaller cheese producers told their American buyers that they “feel there has been some overreach by the EU in these policies,” but others were disappointed that the cheese importers took a stand on GIs.