UK could lose protection for Scotch and Stilton in EU

Brussels to reject demands over regional goods after Government failed to put it in Withdrawal Agreement

THE European Union will next week reject British demands for stronger legal protection for UK regional products such as Stilton cheese and Scotch whisky after the end of the Brexit transition period.

The UK agreed to keep EU protections for delicacies such as champagne and Parma ham during the Withdrawal Agreement negotiations but failed to secure them for British products in the EU. They will only be protected under EU law if they remain on the EU’S register of Geographical Indications (GIS).

GIS are a kind of intellectual property that protects the names of qualifying food or drink products from a certain region, preventing other producers from using them. Melton Mowbray pork pies, Yorkshire forced rhubarb, Shetland wool, Welsh lamb and Cumberland sausages are among 83 protected British products. There will be 3,347 EU GIS protected in the UK after the transition period that will prevent, for example, UK vineyards calling white sparking wine champagne.

The total GI sales value of UK protected products was worth about £7 billion in 2017, according to European Commission analysis in April.

Scotch whisky is worth £5.5billion to the British economy, and is the UK’S largest food and drink export, with global exports worth £4.91 billion in 2019.

The European Commission wants a legal framework to guarantee protection for any new EU GIS in Britain. The UK rejected an EU draft agreement in the last round of negotiations, which ended in deadlock and mutual recrimination. David Frost, the UK’S chief negotiator, told a parliamentary scrutiny committee on Wednesday: “The problem with the Withdrawal Agreement, which obviously we are committed to, is that it requires us to protect EU GIS in this country in perpetuity but does not place any such obligation on the EU to protect ours.”

Negotiators face a tight deadline to finalise the trade deal with the EU before the end of the year, otherwise they will be forced to trade on less lucrative

WTO terms. The UK has ruled out extending the transition period.

Yesterday, Michel Barnier told German radio: “The British have not understood or do not want to understand that Brexit has consequences. For us too but also for them. The UK will not dictate to us the terms of access to our market for British goods, services, data or for workers and businesses. We remain sovereign.”

The Government plans to introduce a new British GI system from Jan 1.