The Congressional Dairy Caucus is taking action to protect the use of common generic names for dairy products, and IDFA members can help.
Geographical indications (GIs) provide a certain group of producers in a specific region the right to use a particular product name, and they are a key issue in the negotiations for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The European Union aims to impose expansive GI rules on U.S. agricultural products that would ban the use of terms like parmesan, muenster, feta and many others, which could affect thousands of dairy farmer and dairy food companies across the country.
Dairy Caucus members plan to send a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Ambassador Michael Froman to ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to protect the use of these generic names for U.S. dairy products. The letter also will ask for the removal of a range of other trade barriers to U.S. products that currently tilt dairy trade numbers dramatically in the EU's favor.
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