Geographical indications, as they are known in Europe and many other countries, are not well understood in the US. Americans may be familiar with the notation on bottles of wine that the “appellation,” a French word meaning the name of the place of origin, is protected. But they may never have stopped to ask, “Protected against what? By whom?” In recent years, a handful of journalists have explored GIs in well-known national newspapers or magazines, but they rarely use the term “geographical indication” or attempt to situate their stories in an international context.
The term geographical indication is part of the legally binding treaty agreements governing the World Trade Organization (WTO), as Section II describes in more detail. But the key point here is that for Americans, it is usually more effective to describe GIs as place-based products, labels of origin, or origin products. These terms are not well defined in the US, but they convey more to the average American of GIs as a category of product.
A national research and outreach effort led by the University of Arkansas and funded by the USDA - Rural Development to: 1) Create the first state-by-state listing of products that can be considered nominees to a national listing of AOP; 2) Reach out to producers with such products to explore their interest in forming a national AOP association; 3) Organize a network of researchers across the country interested in pursuing further research related to AOPs.
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