After smoothing the waters over last year’s contentious nuclear submarine deal which derailed relations between France and Australia, negotiators are tiptoeing across a minefield to navigate resumed trade talks between Australia and the European Union (EU). Much is pinned on the name Australians give to products such as Feta, Grappa, Roquefort, Harvati, and other food stuffs and beverages grown and processed in specific ways and regions within the EU.
Negotiations have taken on a new dimension following the signing of a trade agreement reached between New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern and the EU last week estimated worth $1.8 billion annually once it is completely rolled out by 2035. Part of the deal is an agreement on the use of the word “Feta” which is to be phased out for New Zealand cheese products that for now carry that name.
For Australia and the EU concluding a trade agreement with the EU could earn each side up to $15 billion annually. Neos Kosmos turned to Katia Gkikiza, the Trade Commissioner of Greece in Australia to explain some of the permutations of the trade negotiations particularly where it concerned “feta”.
She emphasised that the trade deal that Australia negotiates with the EU could be different to the New Zealand agreement, but it may also be an indicator of what the final agreement may look like.
“In nine years’ time New Zealand producers will not be able to use the word “feta” for their products (that go by that name presently). There will be a phasing-out period which will allow them to inform their customers. Only authentic Greek products will be able to use the name.”
Even then, she said, the only the makers of feta in regions of Greece where it is traditionally made using traditional methods may call their cheese “feta”. So, for example, Crete or Corfu where feta was not traditionally made, cannot not call their similar cheese by that name. But cheesemakers in Central Greece, Lesvos and other areas where the cheese has been traditionally made using traditional ingredients and methods may use the word “feta” for that product.
Ms Gkikiza said that the legal framework was set up in the EU to protect traditional producers and consumers so that when the file was submitted (for EU trade protection) it denoted “feta” without stating a geographical location (geographical indicators) in the product name, such as “feta from Lesvos or Thrace” but the regions that produce feta were explicitly stated in the file.
“The production area (for making feta) is geographically small. … Before the European Union decided to organise the specifications for each product, it was fine to produce ‘feta’ in different parts of Greece and even in different parts of Europe.
“But these products varied greatly in their ingredients, production methods, and overall quality. The consumer had no way of knowing if what they were actually buying was what they thought they were buying. And the producer of authentic products faced unfair competition from producers of cheap, inferior-quality products. So the introduction of Geographical Indications protects both consumers and producers,” Ms Gkikiza said.
The retired president of the United Dairy farmers of Victoria, Paul Mumford told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) last week that the naming restrictions that the EU wants would confuse the Australian consumer and could cost local food processors and producers many millions of dollars in altered labelling and packaging.
“The consumer understands that feta or parmesan or Gruyère, or whatever it may be, is a type of cheese. They don’t understand what geographical indicator means.. If they see a cheese sitting on a shelf that says ‘white cheese in brine’ they’ve got no idea what that actually means because they’ve got recipe books at home that refer to it as feta,” said Mr Mumford who is also a dairy farmer based in Gippsland.
The head of trade and economics at the EU Delegation in Australia, Cornelis Keijzer, said there had been some confusion in the past over the naming issue.
“This is not about Camembert or about Brie. Those are generic terms that producers in Australia would still be able to use,” he said. “What they cannot do is call it Camembert de Normandie or Brie de Meaux. That’s what the geographical indication is,” Mr Keijzer told the SMH.
However, Australia’s federal Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said the geographical indicators that the EU wanted in place could prove to be a “difficult issue.”
“We’ll have to make some tough decisions at a certain point on those issues,” Mr Farrell told the SMH.
“If they play hardball on it, well then, it’s going to create some difficulties, but I’m hopeful that with a bit of goodwill on both sides we can resolve those sorts of issues. I don’t think ultimately that will be the stumbling block.”
John Brumptis of Fratelli Imports which sells imported and locally sourced cheeses told Neos Kosmos that there had been changes made to made to the names of imported cheeses from Greece over the past two years.
“We have had to realign Greek cheeses over the last two years. For example what used to be called ‘goat’s feta’ is now just called ‘goat’s milk cheese.”
He said that while Australian cheese makers had not changed the names of their “feta” the only exception he noted was Meredith Dairy which had renamed it’s “goat’s milk feta” as “goat’s milk cheese”.
In an article in The Courier of Ballarat the owners of the dairy Julie and Sandy Cameron said that they decided to remove the word “feta” from three of their labels in a gradual process over a period of years and for a time they ran dual labels for their product.
They said that they knew the name change was likely and decided to get proactive and re-brand their cheeses with a name that would recognisable to consumers over the long term.
Meanwhile, a Radio New Zealand online article reported that New Zealand cheese makers were concerned about clauses in the trade deal with EU could allow cheese names to be restricted in the future with New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association board member Daniel Shields adding that the ban on the name “feta” would hit the NZ cheese-making industry the hardest.
He said even the use of phrases such as “feta-style” to describe their product would be problematic because the agreement did not allow the use of “any alternative that invoked the word feta.”
He said the potential for future bans on cheese names would create “a very uncertain operating environment” for cheesemakers. He noted that Harvati was another European derived cheese that would have to be rebranded in New Zealand.