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| Europe |
| What’s in a name? EU full of bologna! |
| 2003-09-09 |
| EFL ...top trade officials meet in Cancun, Mexico, this week to decide on weighty issues of global industrial tariffs, farm subsidies and cheap medicines for poor countries. The big wild-card issue — almost sure to produce one of the nastiest fracases in Cancun — is a looming battle over food names. Simply put, Europe would like them returned. The 15-nation European Union says feta cheese from Wisconsin is fake, cognac from Chile a canard, champagne from California a cheat. What’s more, producers of such products are thieves, the Europeans say. The EU says names such as Bordeaux and Chablis, mozzarella and Roquefort belong to small producers in specific regions of Europe, where those delicacies originated and are still made to traditional specifications. The Europeans are demanding a global trade agreement that says so... "I’d say ’baloney,’ but you realize that’s a name they want back, too," retorts Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Indeed, your bologna has a first name — it’s O-S-C-A-R — but risks losing its most important name. Lunch meats called bologna or baloney get the name from mortadella bologna, the smooth, pink, steamed sausage made since the Renaissance in Bologna, Italy. Time for Oscar Mayer and others to cut it out, the EU says... Mortadella bologna is one of the 41 names on a list that European trade negotiators are taking to Cancun. The list consists of wines, spirits, meats and cheeses from France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Germany... In the European view, geographic name protection would trump trademark rights. That means, for example, that Anheuser-Busch could be stripped of Budweiser, the brand name of the world’s top-selling beer. Budweis is the Germanic name of a Czech town that has been brewing beer for more than 700 years. A Czech brewer, Budweiser Budvar, claims it is the rightful owner... |
| Posted by:Tom |
| #18 to be destroyed by U.S. troops. You mean, they found the weapons of mass destruction??? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-9 10:13:39 PM |
| #17 Vesicular cheese??????? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-9-9 10:00:44 PM |
| #16 Someone, the good stuff (Munich Spaten beer at least) is getting shipped over to Iraq to be destroyed by U.S. troops. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-9 8:05:36 PM |
| #15 That is the stupidest idea i've heard in a long time. It reminds me of the french's trying to "purify" their language by inventing new words for the ones imported from English. Speaking for most of Wisconsin, (I think) I'd like to see them try to take away our cheese and beer... Besides, people brought these recipes to America when they decided to leave good old Europe did they not? |
| Posted by: S 2003-9-9 7:11:58 PM |
| #14 Well I guess that means no more Olds Calias' or Buick Rivieras' either. The Aussies will have to rename the Southern Alps( or is that the NZers,yup just checked ). What's stupid about this is that only a complete idiot( perfect job discription for an EU minister ) would think that swiss chese made in Wisconsin or California is really from Switzerland. Ditto for any of these other food items. Nor will anybody confuse Paris, Texas/Wisconsin with Gay Paree. And TGA, quit sending us the swill and start shipping the good stuff over! |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-9-9 6:12:11 PM |
| #13 Ok not the beer. definately not the beer! mmmmmm beer from Bavaria *Homer Simpson flashback* |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-9 5:38:47 PM |
| #12 Ya sure about the beer? |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-9 5:32:07 PM |
| #11 I'm actually all for this concept. It would make it that much easier to avoid the imported European crap. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-9 4:04:45 PM |
| #10 Actually the French (or the Quebecois) have a word for spam as well: pourriel (contraction of pourrir and courriel, sort of "rot & mail"). At least give them som credit for being creative. That said I'm rather pissed that no Munich brewery is allowed to sell (authentic) Oktoberfest Beer because some shitty US brewery with undrinkable piss trademarked that name. |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2003-9-9 3:41:25 PM |
| #9 I suppose there are some folks in Britain who will like this as well. Like, for example, the folks from cheddar? Actually, Liberal, yes, there are. Several of the smaller cheese producing towns in England are hailing this as "inevitable justice". This translates as "we'll get more money for doing nothing but selling the right to use our name.." Ed Becerra |
| Posted by: Ed Becerra 2003-9-9 3:02:46 PM |
| #8 imagine changing every menu in the US that offers (domestic) "Swiss" cheese. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-9-9 2:42:46 PM |
| #7 i suppose there are some folks in Britain who will like this as well. Like, for example, the folks from cheddar? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-9-9 2:40:20 PM |
| #6 This sort of thing happens within the EU too. A few months ago the sublime omnipotents of Luxembourg, peace be uponn them, declared that Parma Ham is no longer Parma Ham if it's not been sliced in Parma. Beat that! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-9-9 2:17:07 PM |
| #5 Ladies, Gentleman, and ranters around the world, behold the power of the EU! " We fight for your food names that you never complained about until they became multi-billion dollar industries! " |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-9-9 1:56:54 PM |
| #4 Boy, I bet that tomorrow morning all EU citizens will wake up, hear this and puff their chests out with pride. EU euros hard at work. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-9-9 1:54:28 PM |
| #3 "Hamburger" actually refers to the style of preparation - finely ground beef "a'la Hamburg" Late 19th century, I think. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-9-9 1:15:45 PM |
| #2 You have to know that the European Union is a collection of fruitcakes when they do something as stupid as this. Consider, "Frankfurter" (hotdog) comes from Frankfurt, "Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, and so on and so forth. Trying now to change the use of these names for common items is both stupid and irelevant. The EU/WTO "ministers" that try to force this down the throats of the rest of the world should be faced with a total boycott of ALL European products until they wise up and learn to "live and let live". I will even give up my Dusseldorfer mustard (Made in New Jersey). |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-9-9 12:57:54 PM |
| #1 That does it! No more Spam™ in your courriel, pal! |
| Posted by: seafarious 2003-9-9 11:54:52 AM |