Geographical Indications in Progress…Do Latin America Countries Represent a Third Path of Development?

Abstract

Geographical Indications (GIs) are names of regions, specific places or, in exceptional cases, countries, used to describe an agricultural product or a foodstuff (EC 510/2006, Art. 2). They have received much attention in the last years not only at the European level, where they stem from, but also at different international forums such as at the World International Organization (WTO). Being a particular form of intellectual property these certifications schemes could have the potential to be applied also to non-agrifood commodities or even services. Furthermore, due to the severe menace of biodiversity loss caused by globalization, GIs could serve as a tool to promote biodiversity if linked to plant varieties menaced of disappearance or rare animal species. However, international negotiations to achieve these purposes are long and results are minimal (REF). For these reasons the purpose of this paper is to introduce a new stance to the topic of GIs borrowing from the Latin-american implementation of GIs which in some aspects can be considered quite innovative. In the remainder of this paper the authors will present a short description of GIs as they are discussed at different international forums. Further, the innovative implementation of GIs in Latin America will be illustrated by means of three examples: the Sombrero of Montecristi, the GIs of a Brasilian technology and science park (TSP) and the cacao Arriba. Eventually, some conclusions will be presented.