Trade Policy Advice

Trade Policy Advice and Implementation Program:

The protection of geographical indications in LEBANON 2005-2006
 

Financed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)

1. Background

Geographical Indicators (GIs) are defined as “indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin” (article 22.1 of the TRIPS Agreement). Agricultural products typically have qualities that derive from their place of production, are influenced by specific local factors, such as climate and soil and production methods. Whether a sign functions as a GI is a matter of national law and consumer perception.

GIs play an increasingly important role in a globalized world economy where food markets are more and more internationalized. They offer to producers a useful marketing tool as their products’ obtain market recognition and often a higher price.

Lack of adequate protection for GIs is not only detrimental to producers as it affects the reputation of their products and may nullify the investments made to build up and maintain this reputation, but also to consumers who are deceived as to the quality standard and the origin that they expect.

GIs can play a significant role in the rural development of developing countries as they are likely to increase the revenues of farmers and contribute to employment. More and more developing countries express a strong interest for GIs (cf Darjeeling tea in India, nuoc mam in Vietnam). Further, GIs are also often linked to non-commercial considerations, such as the protection and transfer of particular production knowledge, the protection of the environment and landscapes.

Lebanon has numerous high quality agricultural products, such as olive oil, fruits, wine and milk products, as well as handicrafts. In order to take full benefit of these products’ reputation, Lebanon has been taking steps to develop a strategy in this field with a view to elaborating the necessary legislation and ensuring an effective protection of its GIs.

2. Overall Goal and Content

The project’s objective is to contribute to the Government’s efforts to define a strategy for an adequate protection of GIs in Lebanon.  In an initial phase of the project, an international expert was selected to implement the project under IDEAS Centre’s guidance.  Two local junior Lebanese experts have been selected to assist with the creation of an inventory of potential GIs in Lebanon, the provision of information to relevant stakeholders and research into existing legislation on the protection of GIs.  Their collaboration seeks to provide capacity building in this field to the MOET.  In a subsequent phase, and in the light of the field research conducted on Lebanese products, a draft law on the protection of GIs will be prepared by Lebanese juridical experts for the MOET.  It is foreseen that IDEAS Centre will contribute to efforts to raise awareness among relevant stakeholders about the draft legislation in cooperation with efforts by the MOET.  The ultimate measure of the success of the program would be the registration of Lebanese products for the protection of their geographical indication.   

3. Objectives

The Program aims at:

4. Activities

The Program consists of two main components with related activities:

A Training and Research component which consists of training the Lebanese junior experts in the methods and criteria used in Europe in determining geographical indications.  In Lebanon, these experts have sought to identify Lebanese products which might benefit from the protection of their geographical indication.  This involves mainly fieldwork to interview producers and identify production methods with a view to establishing a fact-sheet for each product. 

A legislative proposal was drafted in conjunction with local legal experts and the legal advisors of the MOET.  This draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers in 2007 and is awaiting passage through Parliament.    Ideas Centre may also provide support to the MOET in terms of the awareness campaigns among stakeholders with an interest in this legislation

5. Status Report

Progam completed.  This program began in 2005 with the selection of the Senior expert and two junior experts (a lawyer and an agricultural engineer).  These two experts traveled to Geneva to take an intensive training course in Geographical Indications, in which they traveled through the French-speaking region of Switzerland, South-western France and Northern Spain to learn how products which benefit from GIs in Switzerland and the European Union are produced.  Under the guidance of the senior expert, these professionals in 2006 have begun to gather product information on some 40 typically Lebanese products to determine whether these products could be the subject of a geographical indicator.  They completed a draft law on geographical indicators.  Now independent of the program, these government officers are preparing the various implementation instruments for the law as well as helping to organize stakeholders to prepare and deposit GI requests. 

6. Contacts

Republic of Lebanon, Ministry of Economy and Trade, Directorate for International Relations, ministeroffice@economy.gov.lb

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, WEHU,
http://www.seco.admin.ch/

Agridea, Swiss Centre for Agricultural Extension and Rural Development

http://www.srva.ch/

IDEAS Centre, Geneva

Mr. Nicolas Imboden, Project Director, nicolas.imboden@ideascentre.ch
Mr. Philippe Borel, Program Manager, philippe.borel@ideascentre.ch