Australia - European Union Free Trade Agreement: GI protection is coming to Australia (including for Australian producers!)

Key highlights:

• Australia and the European Union (EU) have signed a Free Trade Agreement.
• The Agreement requires Australia to introduce a new geographical indication (GI) registration system, including for local GIs.
• Australia must also protect nearly 400 European Union GIs, although there are exceptions and phase out periods for some names already used by Australian producers.
• Producers should check the list of protected terms and take relevant actions to ensure compliance or an entitlement to an exception.

Following eight long years of negotiations, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the EU President Ursula von der Leyen have today (24 March 2026) jointly announced that Australia and the European Union have agreed to terms on an Australian-European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA).

The A-EU FTA covers a range of topics including reduction of tariffs, market access for agricultural, horticultural and dairy products, critical minerals co-operation, streamlined professional qualification recognition, increased research and innovation collaboration, and digital trade provisions.

From an intellectual property perspective, one of the key aspects of the A-EU FTA is the requirement for protection of European Union GIs in Australia, and this requirement was the subject of significant disagreement during the negotiations. The GI implications of the A-EU FTA are the focus of this article.

What is a GI?

For those unfamiliar with the term, a or GI is a name which identifies that a product has a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic that is “essentially attributable” to its geographical origin. In effect, a GI is a name that identifies a product coming from somewhere, and the reason why the product is what it is in the minds of consumers (for example, its taste, texture or colour) is because it comes from that place.

Wine-drinking readers may be familiar with GIs, as Australia has recognised EU and Australian wine GIs since the 1990s, with GIs such as Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Beaujolais, Champagne, Saint-Emilion, Tokaj and Chianti protected in Australian and recognised globally as indicators of quality wine.

However, GIs are not limited to wines or spirits, and many other countries recognise and protect GIs as indications of quality agricultural products (including cheeses, smallgoods and other similar products), and, recently, as indications of quality handicrafts.

When not for wines, parties seeking to regulate the use of non-wine GIs in Australia were, in most instances, forced to rely on registration of the GI as a certification or collective trade mark, under the provisions of the Australian Consumer Law or under the tort of passing off. There has been much debate about whether these alternative protection mechanisms are appropriate in the GI context in Australia.

GIs and the A-EU FTA

While the official text of the A-EU FTA has not yet been published at the time of this article, the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (see https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/not-yet-in-force/aeufta/geographical-indications) has released key details on the scope of GI protection required under the A-EU FTA, a summary of which is provided below.

1. Introduction of New GIs Regime — As part of implementation of the A-EU FTA, Australia will be required to introduce a GIs protection system for spirits and agricultural goods for the first time.

Once the new system comes into effect, registered GIs will be protected against misuse, including in circumstances where the true origin of the good is indicated, where the term is used in translation or translation, and/or where the term is accompanied by expressions such as “kind”, “type”, “style” or similar. Australia will not be required to provide protection against “evocation” of a GI. GI protection will not interfere with the use and renewal of existing registered trade marks.

Importantly, the new system will allow for Australian GIs for spirit and agricultural goods to be registered, which will then allow for their recognition as GIs in other jurisdictions (such as the EU) once they are protected in Australia.

It is unclear whether the new GI regime will encompass the existing GI protection scheme for European and Australian Wine GIs established under the Agreement between Australia and the European Community on Trade in Wine (Wine Agreement) and the Wine Australia Act 2013 (Cth). However, as a result of the negotiations, the Wine Agreement is being updated to cover additional GIs, including Prosecco, which is discussed further below.

It is anticipated that there will be further consultation on the drafting and implementation of the new GI protection system consistent with IP Australia’s previous consultation on a potential scheme in 2020 (see Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement: Consultation on a Possible New Geographical Indications Right - IP Australia - Consultation Hub - Citizen Space).

2. European GIs to be Protected under the A-EU FTA — Under the A-EU FTA, Australia will be required to protect 231 spirit GIs and 165 agricultural goods GIs (primarily dairy and smallgoods). The agricultural goods cover product categories including beers, breads and pastry, cheeses, essential oils, fresh meat, fruits, vegetables and cereals, meat products, oils and fats, other products of animal origin, and certain other agricultural products.

The list of GIs to be protected under the A-EU FTA include:

The full list can be found at https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/not-yet-in-force/aeufta/geographical-indications/overview-eu-geographical-indications-gis-protected-treatments.

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3. Exceptions, “Grandfathering” and “Phase Outs” — As part of the negotiations, the Australian Government has secured concessions / assurances from the EU that Australian producers will be allowed to continue to use certain product names, including under a “phase out” or “grandfathering” period, and some of the key examples of these permitted names and associated conditions are set out below.

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4. The Prosecco Question — As part of amendments to the Wine Agreement that form part of A-EU FTA negotiations, Australia will recognise “Prosecco” as a GI for the first time (overriding the decision in Winemakers’ Federation of Australia v European Commission [2013] ATMOGI 1 (22 November 2013)). However, that recognition is limited as follows:

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1. The name “Prosecco” will continue to be recognised as an Australian grape variety (together with “Glera”), and Australian producers will be able to continue to label their wine as “Prosecco” in the Australian domestic market indefinitely (subject to additional labelling requirements).
2. However, for export trade, there will be a ten year phase out period over the labelling of Australian wine as “Prosecco” — after that time, Australian producers will not be able to sell overseas wine produced from the Prosecco / Glera grape variety as “Prosecco”.

Next Steps

As the A-EU FTA has only just been announced, there are still a number of steps that need to be taken before it can come into effect, including:

1. Publication of the draft A-EU FTA text.
2. Ratification of the A-EU FTA by the European Council and the Australian Federal Executive Council.
3. Passing of implementing legislation by the European Parliament and the Australian Parliament.
4. Drafting, consultation and legislating the new Australian GI protection regime.

It is anticipated that, subject to these processes being completed, the A-EU FTA will come into effect in late 2026 or early 2027. We will continue to monitor developments and industry responses.

In the meantime, Australian agricultural and spirit producers should:

1. carefully review the list of protected GIs to see if they are using any of the protected terms;
2. if a term will be protected on ratification, commence the process of adopting an alternative product description; and
3. for those producers entitled to use a “grandfathered” GI, commence gathering evidence of your prior use of the name to take advantage of the grandfathering provisions.