South Africa, Oct. 30 -- As Nero was clearly aware from how it chose to describe its goods and services, "Champagne" has been registered as a protected designation of origin (PDO) in the EU since 1973. Due to its registered protection, it is unlawful to use the PDO "Champagne" unless the product concerned complies with the product specification for Champagne and comes from the geographical region of Champagne in France. PDOs are therefore a type of geographical indication (GI).

Seal of origin

The reason that GIs are protected is to assure consumers that agricultural products bearing the GI have certain specific characteristics, and accordingly, offer a guarantee of quality due to their geographical provenance. Protecting this guarantee ...