The Court of Justice annuls Community regulation protecting the name "Feta" in favour of a Greek cheese but to the detriment of cheeses produced in other Member States of the Union
Geographical indications and designations of origin of agricultural products and foodstuffs are protected by Community law. Community law also provides that "generic" names cannot be registered and enjoy protection as designations of origin. Thus, the name of an agricultural product or foodstuff which, although relating to the place or the region where they were originally produced or marketed, has become the common name of an agricultural product or a foodstuff cannot be registered.
To obtain the information needed for possible registration, at Greece's request, of the name "Feta" as a protected designation of origin - "PDO" - ("salted white cheese traditionally produced in Greece from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep's milk and goats' milk, according to the Greek authorities) or possible inclusion of it on the list of generic names, as called for by a majority of other Member States, the Commission arranged for a Eurobarometer survey to be carried out, questioning 12 800 nationals of the twelve States then making up the European Community.
The Commission, supported in that respect by the Scientific Committee for Designations of Origin, concluded from the survey that the name "Feta" had not become the common name of a product and that it continued to evoke a Greek origin. Consequently, the name "Feta" was registered in 1996 as a PDO at Community level to cover Feta produced in Greece.
Denmark, Germany and France contest that decision: cheese has been produced (also from cows' milk) and legally marketed under the name "Feta" since 1963 in Denmark, 1981 in the Netherlands and 1985 in Germany, for example.
The Court found that the Commission, unjustly, had minimised the importance to be attached to the situation existing in the Member States other than the State of origin and had considered their national legislation to be entirely irrelevant.
According to the Court, the Commission did not - contrary to Community requirements - take account of all the factors relevant to its decision. To decide whether a name has become generic, the situation existing in the Member State in which the name originates and in areas of consumption, together with the relevant national or Community legislation, must all be taken into account. The Commission should, in particular, have taken account of the existence of products legally on the market.
Since it necessarily followed that, when registering the name "Feta", the Commission thus did not take account of all the relevant factors in determining whether in the meantime that name had become generic, the Court annulled the contested Community regulation to the extent to which it registered "Feta" as a protected designation of origin for "Feta" cheese produced in Greece.
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