EU-Australia trade deal falters allowing Australian Prosecco
A long anticipated trade deal between Australia and the EU has collapsed at the last minute.
As part of the deal that has been in the works for over five years, Australia was expected to give up naming rights for hundreds of products including Prosecco, Parmesan and Feta cheese to protect geographical indicators. The Australian negotiators walked away from the deal saying there was not enough value in it.
Australia is one of the biggest producers of Prosecco after Italy. However, rule changes by the EU in 2010 meant the EU was trying to force other countries into abandoning the name of the grape variety as Prosecco. Since Australia does not have a free access trade deal with the EU they are free to continue using the name Prosecco.