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Australia and EU on verge of striking free trade deal long stalled by beef, parmesan and prosecco
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2026
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No, it's not. It's like calling a didgeridoo made in Botswana a didgeridoo. Which would be fair, because that's what it would be. A didgeridoo has a different shape to a lepatata. Saying that any two woodwind instruments are the same is absurd.
Australia already has plenty of parmesan cheese on the shelves. If parmesan from Parma is a superior product, it can succeed on its own merits. Government crony capitalism protecting it shouldn't be forced on us to make it succeed.
Take the chocolate example I made above. In addition to the countries I listed, you can also sell chocolate as being "made in America". And because of the reputation, I would avoid the American chocolate and buy the Swiss or Belgian chocolate. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to call their product what it is.
This is just yet another shitty example of the EU forcing its protectionism onto the rest of the world while claiming to be a bastion of free markets and capitalism. The hypocrisy is laughable. And even more laughable is the amount of people who back them up on it.
You are conflating the produce “cheese” with a specific cheese product made in a specific place. You can make cheese where ever you want, but it won’t ever be from that place unless it’s from that place, that’s how the naming scheme works. The name isn’t that name because they named it and gave it a label, the name is the name because it’s where it came from. The only compromise that would make what you are saying more accurate would be to say that all cheese you are taking about outside of the Parma region is “Parma style” cheese.
Trade works both ways, so if the Victorian cheese you are talking about gets its way to Parma shelves, then it’s a mislabelled product.
No, I'm pointing out that one particular style of cheese has been conflated by the region. But parmesan cheese is a style of cheese. You wouldn't start calling a smooth, creamy, yellow cheese "parmesan" just because it was made in Parma. No, that's still gouda. Likewise, a hard granular aged cheese doesn't become gouda when you make it in the town of Gouda. In fact, if that was true, I'd probably have more respect for the geographic indications. If any style of cheese was Parmesan when made in Parma, then the word "Parmesan" would be an accurate adjective worthy of protection, in the same way I'm saying "Belgian chocolate" should be protected for chocolate made in Belgium. But they insist on saying it's one specific style of cheese. But they want you to only call it by the name of the style of cheese that it is if it's also made there. No thanks.
The name belongs to the style, and the EU's protectionist policies don't change that fact.
@itsathursday
"British Sausage"?
"Australian Parmesan"?
"Yes, Minister" has already covered this ground...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpNY2KfF92k
@Zagorath