Turkey's policy is that geographical indications (GIs) should be protected not only for wines and spirits but also for other products. The same argument has been made by countries such as Switzerland, Hungary and Bulgaria in TRIPs Council meetings though a majority of countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Chile were against it.
On October 15, Turkey passed an amending law for the protection of GIs to simplify application procedures, reduce registration costs and increase the number of applications for GIs before the Turkish Patent Institute.
The protection of GIs is effective in Turkey under Decree-Law 555 from June 27 1995. Today there are 102 registered GIs in Turkey, including several hand made carpets (Hereke, Bergama, Isparta) and tens of foodstuffs (Kayseri pastrami, Adana Kebab, Afyon sausage, Ezine cheese, Antep peanut, Kemalpasa desert, Anamur banana). There are also 142 applications pending.
With the new amending law, GI applications are not required to be published in the two highly circulated newspapers which result in higher costs for applicants but instead in a National Official Gazette and a local newspaper where the production is carried out. If the product is specific to multiple cities then it should be published in each local newspaper to allow objections. For all applications, an expert impartial organisation examines the file after the formal examination by the Institute.
GIs should have a specific quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product attributable to that geographical area, and at least one of the activities of the production, processing or preparation of the product must take place there. An application must indicate general information about the applicant and product, the production method, the borders of the production area, the link between the product and the area, the inspection structure and labelling details.
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| Ersin Dereligil |
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