16 Mar 2014 Whine and cheese: American cheese makers get taste of EU red tape
Errico Auricchio produced cheese with his family in Italy until he brought his trade to the United States more than 30 years ago. Now, the European Union is saying his cheese isn’t authentic enough to carry a European name.
As part of trade talks, the EU wants to ban the use of names like Parmesan, feta and Gorgonzola on cheese made in the United States. The argument is that the American-made cheeses are shadows of the original European varieties and cut into sales and identity of the European cheeses.
Auricchio, president of Wisconsin-based BelGioioso Cheese Inc., says he has no idea what he would call his Parmesan if he had to find a new name.
“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Parmesan,” he jokes.
The Europeans say Parmesan should only come from Parma, Italy, not from Auricchio’s plant or those familiar green cylinders that American companies sell. Feta should only be from Greece, they say, even though feta isn’t a place. The EU argues it “is so closely connected to Greece as to be identified as an inherently Greek product.”
So, a little “hard-grated cheese” for your pasta? It doesn’t have quite the same ring as Parmesan.
US dairy producers, cheesemakers and food companies are all fighting the idea, which they say would hurt the $4 billion domestic cheese industry and endlessly confuse consumers.
“It’s really stunning that the Europeans are trying to claw back products made popular in other countries,” says Jim Mulhern, president of the National Milk Producers Federation, which represents US dairy farmers.
The European Union would not say exactly what it is proposing or even whether it will be discussed this week as a new round of talks on an EU-United States free trade agreement opens in Brussels.
European Commission spokesman Roger Waite would only say that the question “is an important issue for the EU.”
That’s clear from recent agreements with Canada and Central America, where certain cheese names were restricted unless the cheese came from Europe. Under the Canadian agreement, for example, new feta products manufactured in Canada can only be marketed as feta-like or feta-style, and they can’t use Greek letters or other symbols that evoke Greece.
Though it has not laid out a public proposal, the EU is expected to make similar attempts to restrict marketing of US-made cheeses, possibly including Parmesan, Asiago, Gorgonzola, feta, fontina, grana, Muenster, Neufchatel and Romano.
And it may not be just cheese. Other products with traditional ties to European countries that could be affected include bologna, Black Forest ham, Greek yogurt, Valencia oranges and prosciutto, among other foods.
The trade negotiations are important for the EU as Europe has tried to protect its share of agricultural exports and pull itself out of recession. The ability to exclusively sell some of the continent’s most famous and traditional products would prevent others from cutting into those markets.
Concerned about the possible impact of changing the labels on those popular foods, a bipartisan group of 55 senators wrote U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this week asking them not to agree to any such proposals by the EU.
Led by New York Sen Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Pennsylvania Sen Patrick Toomey, R-Pa, the members wrote that in the states they represent, “many small- or medium-sized, family-owned businesses could have their businesses unfairly restricted” and that export businesses could be gravely hurt.
Schumer said artisanal cheese production is a growing industry across New York.
“Muenster is Muenster, no matter how you slice it,” he says…..