The impact of geographical indications on the power relations between producers and agri-food corporations

Abstract

In recent years, a number of Asian countries have introduced new legislation on geographical indications (GIs), in tandem with the increased adoption of trade agreements and a more general tendency toward market liberalization. Following this trend, Japan also introduced the Regionally Based Collective Trademark in 2006 and the sui generis GI in 2015. These GI systems promise to revitalize the declining local agriculture and rural communities, the support of traditional practices and food cultures and an increase in exports of local traditional agri-food products. They are also likely to affect power relations among stakeholders in GI food systems. This situation raises the question of how the systematization of the GI policies impacts existing power relations and whether it leads to more equitable and democratic social relations. Employing the case of powdered green tea matcha produced in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, in Japan, this chapter examines whether GI systems influence these relations and whether these systems contribute to processes of democratization. The chapter concludes that GI systems do not systematically contribute to the democratization of food systems and do not ensure sustainable territorial development. Therefore, corrective public policies need to be established.

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