Australian Geographical Indications Not Governed By EU Considerations

In a dispute concerning the determination of a geographical indication being a region to be known as "King Valley", there were appeals from the decision of the Administrative of Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) by King Valley Vignerons, which sought to have a larger area included in the region than the area that was the subject of the Committee's final determination, and by Whitlands Vignerons, who sought to have a Whitlands Plateaux area (which was included in the King region) classified as a different region.

Australia's laws concerning the determination of geographical indications (contained in the Australian Wine and Brandy Act) give effect to an agreement Australia and the European Community (EC) concerning the sale of wine. Dowsett J pointed out that the relevant legislation needs to be determined in accordance with Australian law and not with reference to the EC agreement. There are