The European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday said Germany broke European Union rules by allowing the name 'Parmesan' to be used for a German cheese that mimicked Italy's glory Parmigiano Reggiano. But the court also ruled that no action should be taken against Germany for violating the regulations protecting the authenticity of quality foods. Germany had argued that 'parmesan' had become a generic term for grated cheese. The ECJ also said that safeguarding EU-protected specialities was up to the country of origin and not any country where the product, or imitations, were on sale.
This second part of the ruling angered Italian producers.
The Coldiretti farmers' association said ''halting products like Parmesan is positive but we're worried that it won't be compulsory for countries where the product is sold to uphold EU regulations''.
The head of the Italian parliament's farm committee, Senator Loredana De Petris, agreed.
''Leaving the fight against food piracy up to the state of origin means weakening the prevention and repression of food fraud''.
Coldiretti said Europe's Parmigiano clone-makers already had a slew of products waiting to take 'Parmesan's place.
''There's grated stuff billed as 'Pamesello Italiano', tubes of something called 'Rapisan', and sachets of 'Parma','' the organisation said.
''We needed something more to protect our Parmigiano, the most imitated product in the world''.
The head of the Italian dairy association Assolatte, Giuseppe Ambrosi, also said he was ''only partially satisfied'' with the verdict.
''Certainly, certified products will get better protection but what we were hoping for was a revision of the EU's quality-control system so that clones can be wiped out''.
But the head of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, Giuseppe Alai, preferred to look on the bright side.
''Today's sentence clears the field of ambiguity: the term Parmesan is not at all generic and constitutes a violation of the certified name Parmigiano Reggiano''. Parmigiano Reggiano has the EU's Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status.
''After this ruling, only the king will be able to wear the king's clothes''.
''No one can usurp our history, one of the most important brand names for Italy on world markets''. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium has had to become increasingly assertive in defending its product's name from improper use. It first scored a key legal victory five years ago when it managed to stop an American cheesemaker from using the Parmigiano tag on its grated cheese. This was the fourth time in ten years that a US company had been forced to remove the label from its product. In 2003, Italy lobbied to have cloned American parmesan denied permission to export worldwide.
The US product later failed in its bid to be admitted to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Codex Alimentarius.
Parmigiano Reggiano continues to be sold in cloned versions in South America, Japan and Britain, while in France 'parmesan' refers exclusively to the Italian cheese. In Brazil a pirated version is marketed as Parmesao, while Argentina calls its fake parmesan Regianito.
