Tokaj wines to be protected in China

Tokaj wines will be protected on the Chinese market thanks to the latest agreement on geographical indications (GIs) between the European Council and China. One hundred products will receive GI’s, protecting intellectual property rights and doubling their revenue.

An agreement has been made between the Council of the European Union and the government of the People’s Republic of China on geographical indications (GIs). This is the first significant bilateral trade agreement signed between the EU and China.

The European Council defines GIs as:

“A GI is a distinctive sign used on products that have a specific geographic origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. The EU-China agreement provides protection of the products’ intellectual property rights.”

This agreement will ensure that 100 EU agricultural and food products get protection on the Chinese market, including the Hungarian wine of Tokaj. Likewise, 100 Chinese products will be protected in the EU. Within four years, the scope of the agreement will expand to cover an additional 175 GI names, including Hungarian palinka and the famous Szeged winter salami,

Világgazdaság reports. The agreement also includes a mechanism to add more geographical indications later on.

The agreement ensures that only those products from Tokaj can be legally sold in China that have geographical indicators on them, eliminating replicas and knock-off items.

GIs are useful marketing tools with big economic potential as they help to ensure higher and more stable export revenues for producers. A geographical indication product sells for more than twice the price of a similar non-geographical indication product.

13% of all the EU’s food and drink export is made up of products with GI protection worth EUR 17 billion. The export of all Hungarian GI products is around EUR 397 million, and wine products take up 76% of this.

China is a high-growth potential market for European food and drinks. For example,

China’s wine consumption increases dynamically, and Tokaj wines pair nicely with Chinese gastronomy. On average, HUF 1.5-1.6 million Tokaj aszú is exported annually to China. There is a high demand for Tokaj wine specialities like the aszú or the szamorodni.

This agreement will benefit European producers and should be a boost to rural areas where these products are made.

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Source: vg.hu; consilium.europa.eu