Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration on Sunday, as free trade negotiations resume in earnest following Donald Trump’s tariffs on US trading partners.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Mr Albanese said Australian producers had a right to use names such as feta and prosecco because of their historical links to the products that they brought to the country as migrants.
While he was intent on a deal, he stressed it would not be reached “at any price”.
“We’re up for a deal that’s in Australia’s national interest,” Mr Albanese said on Saturday.
Trade talks have been in train between Australia and the European bloc for more than a decade but were scrapped in 2023 after the two parties couldn’t come to terms over an EU claim to expand the use of geographical indicators.
Australia has agreed to ban winemakers from using the term ‘champagne’ to market their products, which can only be used to refer to sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region in north-west France.
But the Europeans want more than 1000 other geographical indicators enforced for products such as feta and prosecco, which Australian producers fear would hurt the industry.
The Australian Dairy Products Federation said it supported the government’s work to secure fair and forward-looking trade agreements.
But ‘anti-competitive’ restrictions on terms like ‘feta’ and ‘parmesan’ would result in lost sales and new compliance costs harming local jobs, investment and consumer choice, said the federation’s executive chair John Williams.
“These aren’t just names on packaging. They’re built on decades of effort by Australian businesses, many founded by families with European heritage,” he said.
Australian negotiators have argued it is reasonable for farmers to use the everyday terms, as they represent varieties rather than European regions.
The EU ambassador to Australia, Gabriele Visentin, signalled the bloc was open to compromise, telling the Sydney Morning Herald there was a greater imperative to boost free trade given the current trade disruptions.
The EU is Australia’s third largest two-way trading partner, purchasing more than $25 billion in Australian exports in 2022-23.
But European tariff quotas constrain Australian exports, with agricultural products especially impacted.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says a free trade agreement could open up a market of 446 million people to Australian goods and services.
– with AAP.
