After nine years of the Act languishing in the ether, the Government has finally given the go-ahead for its implementation, with a target of early 2016 for coming into force.
But there is still a lot of work to be done, before New Zealand’s wine regions can safely announce the registration of their GIs to the rest of the world.
Jeffrey Clarke, NZW GM of Advocacy says given the age of the Act, there is a certain amount of fine-tuning now required before it comes into force.
“The Act was passed in 2006 and obviously some things have moved on a bit since then,” he says. “So we have been discussing with MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) officials some tweaks that we each think may be needed to ensure it works properly, and is implemented smoothly. Currently we are working with them to come up with the amendments and will also have input into the regulations that will govern it. A registry and registration regime needs to be designed, and a registrar is required, as are the rules around what information needs to be in an application, who can register, who can oppose an application, what the fees will be, and so on.”
Implementing geographical indications is not so much a necessity within New Zealand, Clarke says, but it is a vital aspect in our international markets.
“Geographical indications are the most effective way to protect the intellectual property in collective regional wine brands because they were developed for exactly that purpose. But most international markets won’t offer full GI protection unless the GI is first registered under the home country’s legal system.
“For us the advantage really comes if we want to defend our GIs overseas. If someone overseas tries to use a trademark or wine region name that conflicts with one of our GIs, without a GI registration system we could be in for a long fight. But being able to show that the GI is registered under New Zealand law makes it almost a slam-dunk.”
Back in 2008, a New Zealand wine GI summit was held, where around 25 established stand-alone GIs were identified by members of the industry as the top priorities for registration.
Those formed the basis of the EU OMAR list, and will also form the starting point for NZW, Clarke says, to finalise with members the priority GIs for registration under the Act.
While 25 may seem a lot, Clarke says the list doesn’t even go down to sub regions in many parts of New Zealand. Those sub regions may have to come later – because the main focus now is ensuring the priority regions are protected, so that everyone has at least one registered GI that they can use.
“The Board of NZW has said it is important for everyone to have a registered stand-alone GI for their wine, and we need to make sure we have an updated priority list that will ensure that. We will be going out into the regions in the next few months to have that discussion, and start helping regions work through the steps they will need to take to get ready for registration.”
While the cost of registering a GI has yet to be advised by MBIE, Clarke says the board of NZW has decided they will pay the registration fee for the priority applications.
Just as NZW did when WSMPs were introduced, NZW will also work on producing a template or exemplar application to help all regions.
“We will work with one of the fairly advanced regions, one that already has agreed maps, a good description of their geography, climate, and wine characteristics and create a template application which will tick all the boxes. We’ll make sure MBIE agrees it’s a good example, then we can use it to simplify the process for all the other regions.”
But he says NZW will not be filling in those applications, as it is up to the regions to do that themselves.
“We’ll be offering plenty of support and guidance, but they are the ones that know their wines, their regions and their stories better than anyone else, so they should be the ones that determine the content of their own applications.”
It will be vital that each region works collaboratively on their regional GIs, Clarke says, to ensure no delays in making an application. Especially he says, as the regime will be first in first served.
“Applications will be processed in the order they are received by MBIE. So it is really important to us that all of our regions have their priority applications ready to file, if we can, on day one of the new Act.”
And while some may ultimately be looking to protect a small sub region, rather than rely on being part of a larger one, Clarke encourages all members to be strategic, and focus on getting the priority applications in.
“If you look at GIs around the world, the smaller the GI, and the smaller the applicant, the more protracted the process tends to be. The prize here is that we get to protect our key names that have most value in our export markets. So we really want this to be a cooperative, collaborative approach to get that base level of protection in place for our priority GIs as quickly as possible. Once that’s done, others can be added over time.”
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