Expansion Of Geographical Indications To Craft And Industrial Products In The EU

The new EU-wide geographical indications (GI) regime for craft and industrial products came into legal effect on 1 December 2025. This expands the existing GI framework, which was previously limited to food, wine, and spirits.

The GI framework now encompasses non-food items such as textiles, jewellery, ceramics, glass, cutlery, and other regional artisanal products, under Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.

The new Regulation ensures a unified EU-level system for registering and protecting GIs for craft and industrial (non-agricultural) products across all member states, replacing fragmented national schemes.

What are craft and industrial products?

Craft and industrial products are described as: products produced either entirely by hand, or with the aid of manual or digital tools, by mechanical means, whenever the manual contribution is an important component of the finished product; or products produced in a standardised way, including serial production and by using machines.

For the name of a product to qualify for protection as a GI, the product must comply with the following requirements:

1. it must originate from a specific place, region or country;
2. its quality, reputation or other characteristic must be essentially attributable to its geographic origin; and
3. at least one of the production steps of the product must take place in the defined geographic area. 'Production step' is defined to be any stage of production, including manufacturing, processing, obtaining, extracting, cutting or preparation, up to the point where the product can be placed on the market.

This means that in Ireland GI protection could potentially be afforded to Donegal Tweed, Connemara Marble and Waterford Glass, for example.

Other important provisions in the Regulation include:

• A two-phase registration system for GIs: first with national authorities (unless a derogation is granted, in which case an application goes directly to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and then at the EUIPO (which maintains the central register.
• Protected names offer producers collective rights and prevent counterfeiting, misuse, and improper commercial use, both online and offline, across the EU.

So, what is a GI and why should we care?

In a world of constant technological development and in the age of AI, it is important to protect traditional craft and industrial products. GIs enable the protection of traditional ways of making products and provide a clear indication to potential consumers that they are buying the real deal.

There is also the question of trust for the public. When something is protected as GI it should be the genuine product. GI protection can further protect traditional craft and industrial products from counterfeits and fakes.

As of 18 December 2025, there are already 35 applications pending in the EU, and this number is likely to increase rapidly as the benefit of this protection solidifies.

GI protection can take some time to obtain. It requires that a group apply to a specific governmental body, whether this be the intellectual property office or another entity. This then requires assessment and amendment of documents to standardise the process to make the product to be protected.

What options do these groups have in the intervening period? Certification and collective marks, if not a traditional trade mark, can assist in providing protection for the makers of crafts and industrial products. Some information on these marks can be found in my previous article, which is available here.

Impact in UK

On 26 November 2025, the UK Government issued a notification that the new scheme will be available for interested parties in Northern Ireland. It seems that Northern Irish producers of craft and industrial products can apply for GI protection under the new EU Regulation through the UKIPO.

GI producers in England, Scotland and Wales can apply for protection of their products directly with the EUIPO rather than through the UKIPO as there is no national scheme in England, Scotland and Wales for non-agricultural GIs.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.