Japan, U.S. agree to protect alcoholic drinks linked to special areas by banning knock-offs
The Asahi Shimbun | 6 November 2015
Japan, U.S. agree to protect alcoholic drinks linked to special areas by banning knock-offs
Japan and the United States have struck a deal to ban alcoholic beverages that are not produced in the geographical area included in its brand name under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact.
The deal, aimed at protecting alcoholic beverages manufactured in their respective nation, targets seven brands including Japanese sake, Yamanashi wine, Kuma Jochu from Kumamoto Prefecture, Satsuma Shochu from Kagoshima Prefecture and Ryukyu Awamori from Okinawa Prefecture.
These beverages cannot be sold in the United States unless they are made in the specified areas in Japan. Canada has also agreed to a similar deal with Japan.
The agreement is intended to eliminate “Japanese sake" from the United States that is made in China and other nations.
Japan, for its part, will ban sales of bourbon whiskey and Tennessee whiskey that were not produced in the United States.
The names of the seven brands, which are given geographical identification status by including the names of the areas where they are produced, will be protected under the agreement as intellectual properties.
One sake brewing company in Japan manufactures "seishu" (refined sake) at factories in the United States and markets it as “sake” in the United States. The firm is expected to be exempt from the ban as it says it does not market it as "Japanese sake."
