Council of State Prohibits “Saucisson d’Ardenne” Made in Flanders

Council of State Prohibits “Saucisson d’Ardenne” Made in Flanders

By Peter L'Ecluse and Julia Puplesyte

On 21 September 2012, the Council of State held that the name “Saucisson d’Ardenne” can only be used for products that were effectively produced in the Ardennes region.

The meat and fresh food company Ter Beke-Pluma (“Ter Beke”) requested the annulment of the Walloon government’s decision to register the names “Saucisson d’Ardenne”, “Petit Saucisson d’Ardenne”, “Collier d’Ardenne” and “Pipe d’Ardenne” as geographical indications under Council Regulation (CE) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (the “PGO Regulation”).

Ter Beke requested to annul the PGO’s for two reasons. First, it argued that the name “Saucisson d’Ardenne” had become a generic name for all dry smoked coarse grind sausages and is therefore excluded from registration under to Article 3(1) of the PGO Regulation. Second, Ter Beke contended that the name falls outside the scope of the PGO Regulation because it is not a “geographical indication” within the meaning of Article 2(1) and thus cannot be registered.

The Council of State dismissed these arguments in their entirety.

The “Saucisson d’Ardenne” has not become generic

Ter Beke had argued that although there is a historical link between the sausages in question and the Ardennes region, this link no longer exists. The cold and humid climate that is required for the production of these sausages can be reproduced artificially so that any sausage producer can effortlessly apply the recipe outside the Ardennes region.

The Council of State dismissed this argument. It held that new technologies are not liable to undo the link between the product and the region. When assessing the generic nature of a product, the way in which the name is perceived by the consumers needs to be taken into account. Since the connection with the Ardennes region is an element that consumers take into account when deciding whether to buy a product, the name “Saucisson d’Ardenne” has not become a generic name for all dry smoked coarse grind sausages.

The “Saucisson d’Ardenne” is a geographic indication

The Council of State decided that the criterion whether a foodstuff is originating from a certain region needs to be assessed at the time of the first appearance of the product and not at the time of the request for registration. Therefore, “Saucisson d’Ardenne” can be said to originate from the Ardennes even though it is currently also produced outside of this region.

It furthermore dismissed the argument that the “Saucisson d’Ardenne” does not possess a specific quality attributable to the Ardennes region because similar smoking methods and fire wood are used in other regions. According to the Council of State, it is the reputation that is attributed to a region that serves as a criterion for deciding whether a geographical indication should be protected. It is irrelevant that products of the same quality are also produced elsewhere.

The Council of State thus dismissed the claim to annul the registration of the name “Saucisson d’Ardenne” in its entirety and confirmed that this name can only be used for products that have been produced in the Ardennes.