A recent article in the Natural Stone Bulletin highlighted a key cultural and economic issue that could increasingly affect the UK – the lack of GIs for craft and industrial goods. The article is about the efforts of the MD of Albion Stone, a Portland Stone mining company, to persuade the UK government to develop a scheme of GIs to help to protect the name of Portland Stone. The UK government response suggests that they believe that the existing trade mark legislation is sufficient.
So, what is all the fuss about? If you have ate a Melton
Mowbray Pork Pie or drank Champagne, separately or together, then you have
indulged in food and drink products that have a GIs. GIs stands for
Geographical Indications. The EU, along with other parts of the globe, use GIs
to identify a geographical area within which specific food and drink products
can claim to be genuine and so benefit from the reputation of produce from that
area. It prevents manufacturers from outside the area piggy-backing on its
reputation to sell their produce. A 2020 EU
report on GIs estimated that they were worth about 75billion Euros with a
GIs roughly doubling the value of the product compared to similar products
without a GIs. Although there is as yet not EU legislation for craft and
industrial products, it is getting closer with such legislation
likely to protect products such as Murano glass, Donegal tweed and Halas lace. Trade
marks refer to the produce of a company, whilst GIs relate to the produce of a
region. The latter provides a consumer with information on the quality of a
produce, almost a guarantee that it will
conform to the expected traits, as well as the authenticity of the produce.
Is it really a problem though – surely you know if your
stone comes from Portland? Or your Harris tweed from Harris? Or your Isle of
Wight glass from the Isle of Wight? Charging a premium for such produce relies
on the consumer believing that the produce, by its name and location, embodies
a history or tradition of quality and ongoing quality that ensure the product
behaves as expected. The value of
Portland stone goes beyond the economic though. Portland Stone, for example,
has a long history of use in the UK, from grand projects such as St Paul’s
Cathedral to more mundane use as paving slabs. Culturally, Portland Stone has a
central position in remembrance with the Cenotaph being constructed of Portland
Stone and the majority of Commonwealth War Graves being gleaming Portland Stone.
Similarly, the role of Portland Stone as
the stone of Empire and a symbol of power has been relatively little explored,
whilst its pivotal role as a comparative stone in the development of durability
testing is probably one of its most significant hidden histories. Protecting
the quality and legacy of the product has a cultural value as well.
Relying on trademarks to signify quality to consumers may be
expedient, but it misses the potential benefits that GIs could bring to craft
and industrial products. The identification of a geographical area as a quality
of a product ties the product to the producers in that area as well as to the techniques
they use to produce. Being able to charge a premium for these products could
aid investment into these areas as well as providing a reason to sustain, train
and develop the crafts used to produce them. Similarly, the specifications of
the product, to ensure quality control, could be devolved to the producers in
that area, increasing local control of the nature of the produce and achieving
buy-in from the producers themselves for GIs. With the levelling up agenda
still in play, such localisation of economic and cultural power could become an
incentive for regeneration.
Trademarks are good, but the opportunities provided by GIs,
economic and otherwise, for enhancing the economic value of produce, for
localising economic and cultural power, for sustaining craft practices and for
protecting cultural heritage are at least worth exploring.
