Geographical Indication as a Strategy to Revive Small-Scale Agriculture: Evaluating Prospects for Geographical Indication Commodities as a Value-added Mechanism for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to relay the results of an investigation into the ability of geographical indication (GI) to increase the profitability of small-scale agriculture in the EU and US and, consequently, revive and shore up the small agricultural communities in which producers live. The EU has long had a policy of using GI to differentiate its products within Europe and across the global economy. As a result, there is much we can learn from their experience. The US has relatively little experience in this regard, but examples do exist.

In our European research we noted that GI status products seemed to be more resilient to the twin shocks of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Much like “the farmer’s market economy’ in the US (Robinson et al. 2021), the “PDO economy” (Treccani, 2020) in Europe cushioned food producers during the pandemic (Dell’Orefice, 2022; Tetro, 2021). Also, new agricultural initiatives within the EU increasingly tie GI designation to the green economy through the inclusion of obligations to “social conditionality.”

We also contend that the GI system used within the EU is entirely exportable. Indeed, the AVA system in the US is almost exactly a carbon copy of the system used for wines within the EU. For other food products, navigating US institutions to establish EU-like GIs is slightly more difficult. All the same, the case of Vidalia Onions provides an excellent blueprint – an enmeshment of state and federal law protecting a singular and unique foodstuff. In closing, it is critical to again specify exactly what that enmeshment entails:

- Designation of the foodstuff as a state fruit, vegetable, or protein as appropriate; - Acquisition of a US certification mark held by an appropriate state government entity; - Acquisition of a USDA Market Order for the foodstuff.

Only with the implementation of all three steps will a foodstuff acquire the necessary legal protection to reap the benefits of GI protection in the US. GI is not a panacea, but it is a tool in revitalizing the rural economy of the US.