Another try at a global register for wines and spirits
Published:Friday | January 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Correction & Clarification
In this article entitled "Another try at a global register for wines and spirits", published on January 28, 2011, it was incorrectly stated that Marvia Williams of J. Wray and Nephew is an attorney-at law.
We regret the error and apologise for any inconvenience it might have caused.
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Avia Collinder, Business Writer
The World Trade Organi-zation has resumed work, after a 13-year lag, on creating a single global geographical indication register for wines and spirits, which Jamaican producers say is long overdue.
Geographical indications, or GI, are place names or words associated with location that uniquely identifies products because of their particular quality, reputation or other indigenous characteristic, for example Blue Mountain coffee.
Carol Simpson, executive director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), called the movement towards a single draft text "a significant achievement" after many years of negotiations.
"The register is a database specifically relating to information on wines and spirits. Member states will therefore decide whether they wish to participate by providing information on their country's wines and spirits to be made available in an international register," said Simpson.
JIPO is currently working on GI standards and related legislation for rum and other products for which Jamaica is well known.
"Once registered in Jamaica under our GI register, companies producing these products have the option to decide if they wish to be included in the WTO International Register of Wines & Spirits," she said.
Jamaica's top spirits company and owner of the Appleton brand, J. Wray and Nephew Limited, says the WTO register would offer another tier of protection and is "extremely pleased" that the GI project has been revived.
Marvia Williams, Wray and Nephew's assistant company secretary with responsibility for trademark protection, says company sales of rum in Ecuador are being affected by the presence on the market of a rum called Ron Jamaica.
"We have made representation to foreign affairs officials, but we made no progress because we have no international agreements. We are getting a fight," said Williams.
"It affects our ability to sell a genuine Jamaican rum in Ecuador. Our efforts have come to nothing because there is no legal framework to protect us."
The attorney said since a single producer cannot claim a trademark for Jamaica, the law should be able to prevent such activity.
Otherwise "People will ride on your reputation," said Williams
The GI register does not apply to beer as it is a globally generic product, says Dianne Ashton Smith, head of corporate communications at Diageo-owned Red Stripe Jamaica.
"The company spends a significant amount of its resources on trademark protection, in that it must maintain registrations in each country that the product is sold and a potential country where the brands would be sold," said Wiliams.
"Trademark protection is limited as it relates to the Jamaica rum aspect of the mark, and this leaves JWN unable to effectively and actively stop the illicit use or misuse of Jamaica rum."
Jamaica, in 2008, signed an Agreement of Technical Coopera-tion with Switzerland on the Protection of Geographical Indica-tions, under a two-year project, to establish an effective GI system in Jamaica.
Simpson said JIPO is now working with producer groups on protections, specifically for Blue Mountain Coffee, Jamaica Jerk and Jamaica Rum, and drafting new GI legislation.
"We will be seeking approval from Cabinet for an amendment to the GI Act, to give equal level of protection to these other products as provided for wines and spirits now under the law," the JIPO head said.