The Committee on International Trade (INTA) of the European Parliament has its final vote on the EU and China agreement to mutually protect over 200 products with geographical indications, in Brussels. These include Cava, Champagne, Feta, Irish whiskey, Münchener Bier, Ouzo, Polska Wódka, Porto, Prosciutto di Parma and Queso Manchego. The Parliament consent is required for the agreement to enter into force. Statement by Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), rapporteur and illustrative shots of Roquefort cheese, Grand Padano cheese, Parma ham and beer.

Agreement between the EU and the government of the People's Republic China on cooperation and protection of geographical indications: statement by Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), rapporteur and illustrative shots

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Title: Agreement between the EU and the government of the People&apos;s Republic China on cooperation and protection of geographical indications: statement by Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), rapporteur and illustrative shots (I-198025)

Introduction shot of rapporteur Mr WINKLER (1 shot)

SOUNDBITE (English), Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), Our very well known and much appreciated the products which have geographical indications, let's speak about champagne, let's speak about Irish whiskey or the cheeses or olive oils: all those products will be protected on the Chinese market. And the second the important news is that from political for point of view, this agreement is very important since this is the first ever trade agreement between the European Union and China.

(Soundbite continues) : And we can see now that the trust between the two superpowers, should I name them, the European Union and China is going down, unfortunately, our relations are full of tension and full of volatility, so in these times when we are also negotiating the investment agreement with our Chinese partners, it is very important that we have such a first agreement and that we can apply the regulation, which is protecting Chinese indications also in on the European market, but European geographic indications on the Chinese market. It is a huge economic scope, because one has to know that European agri food exports are more than 14 Billion euros each year, so this is a huge amount. And the out of the total geographical indication products export of the European Union, roughly 10 percent goes to the Chinese market.

SOUNDBITE (English), Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), We had Court cases before also, but those court cases could go only on the intellectual property legislation, the so-called TRIPS agreement under the WTO. Now we will have a new implementation mechanism and the two parts of the agreement, China and the European Union, have to enforce this agreement, which is legally binding. So for companies, it will be easy because they could give just the signal to the agricultural associations or agri food producers associations.

(Soundbites continues) : It is very important that they have this direct open door to the European Commission, which is representing our commercial interests in China. I expect that the trade figures will increase, but I expect also that the European products will be more trusted and more well-known in China, which is a huge market, as everybody knows, but also, I expect the political benefit of this agreement, because if we once did it, then it means that we can repeat this and hopefully we can have also other economic investment or trade agreements with China.

Interior, general views of the remote committee meeting, before the vote outcome on the report of Mr WINKLER, (5 shots)

Illustration part: Roqfort cheese, Grand Padano cheese, Parma ham and beer, (20 shots) 

Event date	27/10/2020
Reference:	I198025V
Format:	16:9 format
Copyright:	© European Union
copyrightYear:	2020

Agreement between the EU and the government of the People's Republic China on cooperation and protection of geographical indications: statement by Iuliu WINKLER (EPP, RO), rapporteur and illustrative shots

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