December 2005
Which is the real “Melton Mowbray”? Now, don’t tell pork pies!
The traditional Melton Mowbray pork pie is of course made in “Melton Mowbray”. However “Melton Mowbray” pies are also made in Leeds, at least, unless the Government gets its way.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on behalf of local producers in Melton Mowbray Pie Association in Melton Mowbray applied to the European Commission for their pies to be protected by protected geographical indication (PGI) status under the geographical indications system (GI system).
EU rules require PGI products must have a geographical connection to the area in at least one of the stages of production of a food. This would mean that food made outside this area would lose the right to called by that protected name.
Not surprisingly Northern Foods, the Leeds Melton Mowbray pie manufacturer, is unhappy and is challenging the Government. It claims that the designation of the area in the application which includes Melton Mowbray, Leicester, Nottingham and Northampton rather than just Melton Mowbray is meant to protect one local producer, Samworth Brothers, which happens to have a Melton Mowbray pork pie production site within the proposed area but outside the town.
The high court has heard two days of argument and the judge hearing the case has said he will hand down his judgment at a later date.
Briffa comment:
The EU GI system was set-up to protect local food producers with traditional brand names. There are now over 700 foods which are protected by this system including Cornish Clotted Cream, Blue Stilton Cheese, Whitstable Oysters, Scotch Beef and Gloucestershire Cider.
The system has done much to protect the authenticity of foods which are made by traditional means however this has come at a cost in terms of making it harder for other producers of very similar foods to compete.
The outcome of this case where the rules clearly favour a major current producer is a case in point. There are significant competition concerns here and it will be interesting to see if the judge is able to take that into consideration and set a precedent for when PGI status is inappropriate.
The EU has applied to the World Trade Organisation for international recognition of the GI system. Interestingly the US are contesting the application on the basis that it is simply trade protection.