EU: The European Union's highest court has halted an attempt by Italian winemakers to continue using the traditional Tokaj label, exclusive to Hungary under EU law, upholding a ban on the name in Italy.
Regional authorities in one of Italy's top wine-growing areas, Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeast, asked a local court to overturn a national law that banned using the name, written as "Tocai" in Italian.
The European Union protects some 600 regional food names, as well as around 4,000 wines, among them Champagne, Rioja and Chianti, by insisting a product must be made in the original region to carry its name.
A national law implementing a 1993 agreement between the EU and Hungary that granted protection of the Tokaj name is due to apply in Italy from March 2007.
The local Italian court referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. "Tocai friulano" or "Tocai italico" refer to a species of indigenous vine traditionally cultivated in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
"The prohibition on using the name Tocai for certain Italian wines, arising from an agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Hungary, is valid as regards the aspects examined by the court," the ECJ said in a statement yesterday.
"The court rejects the objections raised as to the validity of the prohibition, arising from the EC-Hungary agreement, on using the name Tocai in Italy after 31 March 2007," it said. While "Tokaj" indicated a wine region in Hungary, in Italy it was only the name of a grape variety and as such could not benefit from EU protection there, the court said.
Besides, banning the "Tocai" label in Italy was acceptable because alternative names were available to replace Tocai friulano and Tocai italico.
Italy had also been given a 13-year transition period since the EC-Hungary wine agreement was signed in 1993, the ECJ said.
In a similar case, the court's top legal adviser recommended on Tuesday that the ECJ reject an appeal by Denmark and Germany against an EU ban on their using the term "feta" for their cheese, saying Greece had the exclusive right to produce feta.