NAFTA modernization must move quickly to prevent the EU from making a deal with Mexico that would prevent U.S. exporters from using common cheese names.

An Informa Economics IEG study shows GIs would take billions from the U.S. dairy industry, slash cheese consumption and increase prices for consumers.

Remedies for non-tariff barriers outweigh market access gains. 

Cheese names could be discussed again as U.S. and EU negotiators meet this week for another round of TTIP talks.

In a statement, USDEC and others express concern that Canada is working to limit access for highly competitive U.S. products.

The threat is very real and obviously escalating, as any glance at the past six months’ events will attest.

When the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) went into effect in March, it opened many doors to U.S. cheese suppliers. A few, however, remained shut—not from latent protectionist fears of the Koreans, as we might have originally feared, but the strategic maneuvering of the European Commission, which is in charge of policy and negotiating agreements for the European Union (EU).

The great wines and spirits of Europe had a great impact on the world’s palate over the centuries. Yet, in the 1980s, the European Union (EU) began to regret that many countries were creating unwelcome competition by matching—and sometimes exceeding—the quality of what it considered its heritage products. Therefore, the bloc sought to regain control of the Old World names.