Geographical Indicationsin

Jordan

1- Justifications2- current situation of GIs3- building the system of GIs

Sulaiman Alrkaibat ,Director of Trade Agreements Unit, MoA

Challenges that facing Agr. Sector in Jordan

(MoA, small farmers and Rural areas)

•Legislative, social, trade and economics, institutional and practical challenges

Liberalizing the Trade (WTO)

• Higher competition• Lower tariffs• The current marketing system don’t

distinguish between agri. Products according to distinguish characteristics (method of production, place of production, who are the producers)

Changes in local production system

• big firms / high investment• high yield varietiesthe impact on small producers:• their need to transition period to cope• the opportunity cost• immigration from rural areas to urban

Required Role from MoA• Strengthening the farmers organization• Creation of proper legislative frame work• Inducing the proper changes in agricultural

policies• Adopting new innovations in agriculture with

benefit to small farmers such as• organic products• fair Trade• GIsAs to maximize the value of production of small

farmers

In Jordan

• Organic farming JICA• Fair Trade NGOs • GIs FDA

Current situation GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS LAW

LAW NO. 8 FOR THE YEAR 2000 :ARTICLE 2• Minister: Minister of Industry and Trade.• Geographical Indication: Any indication

which identifies a good as originating in the territory of a specific country, or a region or locality of that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its origin

• ARTICLE 3• A- Any person is prohibited from the following:• 1. The use of any means in the designation or

presentation of a good that indicates that the good in question originates in a geographical area other than the true place of origin, in a manner which misleads the public as to the geographical origin of the good.

• 3. The use of a geographical indication which, although literally true, falsely represents to the public that the goods originate in other than the true place of origin

• ARTICLE 4• A- 2 trademark from the Register may also be

filed without restriction to the period related thereto, which is determined in the Trademarks Law in force.

• ARTICLE 7• The following acts shall not be considered in

violation of the provisions of this Law:• A– 1. Acquiring through use, in good faith, a

trademark, which is identical or similar to a geographical indication before the provisions of this Law came into force or before the geographical indication is accorded protection in its country of origin.

• - Using a geographical indication of any other country, by any means, for which the indication is identical to the common Arabic term for such goods or services

in the KingdomARTICLE 9• The Council of Ministers may issue

regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Law.

building the system of GIs

• Assessment mission from French Development Agency (FDA) was in Jordan as to advice in establishing a system of GIs in Jordan:

• Their main findings are:

• In principle, this law prohibits the establishment of trademarks mentioning geographic sites

• a number of Jordanian officials believe that geographic indications should be regarded as collective marks and should be treated as such

the Abou Ghazaleh law firm), taken the initiative to propose a new law on GIs which is much more comprehensive than the ordinance of 2000

• draft the law based on:• The TRIPS Agreement,• The International Lisbon Agreement, and• The Paris Agreements• (37 articles instead of 10).• a specific bureau for registering GIs in the

Ministry Industry and Trade.

• GIs would be considered a quality sign certified by the Jordan Institute for Standards and Metrology (JISM).

• Products would have to conform to European standards

• GIs protected for 10 years, can be renewed. Every 10 years,

• the product would be checked to ensure that it is conforming to the standards.

• The draft law would be very clear on the procedure for filing the registration and the system for penalized protection.

• The draft law is due to be presented to the Ministry of Industry and Trade by the end of the year.

The content of the List of RequirementsA classic list of requirements for geographical

indications should include the following • Name of the product including a mention

of the geographical indication,• Demarcation of the area concerned,

defined as the surface area that includes all the communities or parts of the communities that are included in that area,

• Factors that justify the existing link between the quality and the characteristics of the product along with the geographical location or with the geographical origin,

• Description of the product including the raw materials and the main physical, chemical or organic characteristics,

• Factors that prove that the product originates from the geographic area in question

• Description of how this product is obtained, its expiry date, its local address, service address and headquarters address,

• References of the institution if the requester's choice regarding control issues is handled by a certifying institution

• Specific requirements for the labelling of that product,

• Details of all those who were involved in the production and/or manufacturing and/or packaging of the product from the point of origin onwards in order to facilitate control issues, and

• An inspection plan that can be followed by the concerned authorities or organisations

Establishing The National Commission for Geographical Indications

• A national commission for geographical indications should be established. It would gather concerned administrations and professionals as well as experts

• Its function • to review the cases for geographical indications in view

of • list of requirements and current texts• it would present its view to the authorities responsible

for the registration of GIs. If this advice is unfavourable,• the geographical indicator will not be registered • In these cases, the requesters will have the right to

appeal• If advice is favourable, the GIs will be published in the

relevant official• . All those involved will then have the right to object

within a certain period of time.• Once this time period is over or once the appeal has

been accepted,• the GIs will be considered as definitely recognised and

will be registered

• Rule of some Compositions of the commission • The Ministry of Industry and Trade and IPPD:

We propose that the MoIT should be the Jordanian authority for GI, through the IPPD, and that a GI department be created within the collective marks register.

• To avoid modifying the law on trademarks and the law on geographical indications.

• in view of its competencies in matters of expertise, controls and accreditation, the participation of JISM in the commission is vital

• The Ministry of Agriculture: This Ministry needs to play an important

role when it comes to expertise in handling cases., because of its competence in issues related to the TRIPS Agreement and in implementing various standards and norms as a result of Jordan joining the WTO.

• The contribution of the Olive Bureau is required to launch the pilot geographical indications project on olive oil

• The Ministry of Justice: to review the draft law of GIs.

• the Ministry of Planning will decide if they wish to participate in this commission.

• The Royal Court could be represented in this commission.

• The Ministry of Environment should participate, in our view, in the commission as geographic indications must, by their very concept, contribute to conserving the environment

• The Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) must participate in the commission in view of its responsibility of providing export certificates. If not, then it should at least be consulted as an expert when cases are decided.

• NCARTT, public research institution, should participate in the commission as a scientific expert

Protecting GI

• The terms of the ordinance can be completed by adding the following regulations:

• The geographical indications as well as their geographic representations or logos are for collective use. They remain the property of the State through the organization that has processed their registration

Ministry of Planning/AFD

GI CommissionMinistry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, The Royal Court, Ministry of

Environment, JISM, IPPD, Customs, NCARTTJordan Farmers Union, JEDCO, JOPEA, JFDA, Millers Association, RSS

Ministry of Industry and Trade

Institutional Component

1Setting up of an institutional and judicial system for GI

2Organization of a training programme

Operational Component: setting up and promoting a pilot project in Yubla and Ajloun

1.Setting up a pilot olive oil GI with two producers’ organizations (Yubla and Raymouni)

2.Technical support and training on good agricultural practices

3.Promotion with JOPEA and JMU

JE*

IPPD registration organization for GI and MoIT Technical Assistance and Consultant Firm with,MoA and JFU