NMPF Hails USTR Report Highlighting Cheese Name Trade Barriers
May 5, 2026
NMPF welcomed the U.S. Trade Representative’s April 30 release of its 2026 Special 301 Report, which cites as a priority trade barrier the European Union’s abuse of intellectual property tools to monopolize common cheese names like “parmesan.”
The support for positions taken by NMPF, the U.S. Dairy Export Council and the Consortium for Common Food Names, is essential as the organizations work with the U.S. government to secure protections for American dairy producers’ right to use common food names in global markets.
The annual document that details pressing intellectual property issues facing U.S. exporters this year highlights the administration’s successful efforts over the past year to use reciprocal trade agreement negotiations to secure commitments to keep common names free to use for American producers. These new deals are critical for pushing back against the European Union’s protectionist geographical indication (GI) policies, which restrict widely recognized terms like “parmesan” and “feta” to specific European producers and effectively cut U.S. exporters out of key markets.
NMPF and USDEC filed comments in January supporting CCFN’s more detailed submission to USTR, which documented the breadth of markets where those rights are under threat and expressed gratitude for the administration’s prioritization of the issue. NMPF’s Shawna Morris also testified at the public hearing USTR held as part of its efforts to develop the report. All three organizations will complement USTR and U.S. government monitoring the reciprocal trade agreements and hold trading partners to their successful implementation.
Additionally, NMPF will continue to push for protections in every ongoing trade negotiation, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Joint Review, to ensure that U.S. dairy exporters can ship their products to any market in the world, regardless of their common names.
