On November 3, Ghana deposited its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement concerning appellations of origin and geographical indications. The Geneva Act will enter into force for Ghana on 3 February 2022. This accession will allow for the international protection of Ghana’s geographical indications, for example “Bolga baskets”, “Dzomi traditional red palm oil”, “Ghana shea butter” and “Ghana cocoa”.
Also in November, for the first time, a third country geographical indication – “Kampot pepper” (Cambodia) – was protected in the EU under the Geneva Act. The name “ម្រេចកំពត” / “Poivre de Kampot” was entered in the WIPO International Register in December 2020 as a geographical indication. As the European Union is a member of the Geneva Act, the Commission assessed the registration and concluded that the conditions for protection are met.
The Geneva Act, which currently covers 35 jurisdictions , allows producers of geographical indications and appellations of origin of the contracting parties to protect their designations in several countries simultaneously, by filing a single application with WIPO and paying a single set of fees.
To find out more about the Geneva Act, please visit the dedicated page on the oriGIn website.
