Protected products: What makes lamb from South Africa’s Karoo and France’s Mont Saint-Michel so special

A meal or food shopping experience can be more interesting and enjoyable when you know more about a particular product, like what region it came from and the culture that shaped it. Knowing what makes the food “unique” can improve the tasting experience. Think about drinking an ice-cold glass of “real” Champagne from France or the satisfaction of serving your dinner guests “Parma ham” from Italy's Parma region. In 1994 the World Trade Organisation put in place an agreement on intellectual property (Trips) that had a section on Geographical Indications. This increased the protection of certain products, and extended it to more countries. The rights are territorial – the name of a product can only be used if it is sourced from a designated country or region. All members of the WTO are required to make sure this protection happens in their territories. As a result of the agreement most countries realised they had food products with unique “backstories”. Examples include: Basmati rice ...