Belgian authorities announced on Thursday they have destroyed a shipment of more than 3,000 bottles of California-made sparkling wine as part of a New Year's crackdown on illegally labeled Champagne.
The destruction of the US bubbly highlights a global battle by European food and drink producers to protect their brands by enforcing laws that say only products made in their original regions can carry names such as Champagne, Parma ham or Danish Blue cheese.
In the EU and in non-EU nations that recognize label of origin rules, Champagne can only come from the region of the same name in northern France.
"`Champagne' is a protected appellation of origin which can only be attributed to wines coming from the Champagne region," said Bruno Paillard, representing vintners from the French region.
Paillard said selling other wines with the Champagne label amounts to counterfeiting that cheats consumers.
"It is not the wine connoisseurs that get tricked, because they know the difference, so our priority is to defend the average consumers," Paillard told a news conference.
Officials in the Belgian port city of Antwerp discovered the shipment of sparkling wine bottles bearing the labels "California Champagne" and "Andre Champagne Cellars" destined for Nigeria. All 3,288 bottles were destroyed on Tuesday, officials said.
In a statement, the manufacturer, California-based E&J Gallo Winery, said it respects EU labeling laws and does not sell wine labeled as California Champagne in those countries.
The shipment in question belonged to a third party based in the US that supplies cruise ships and, once informed of the problem, agreed to abandon the product for destruction, Gallo said.
Most countries around the world -- including Nigeria -- respect the rules granting exclusive use of the Champagne label to the French producers.
Sparkling wine makers in the US are allowed to use the Champagne name as part of a compromise reached after years of trade negotiations with the EU. However, they are not allowed to export it under that label to countries that recognize the EU's protection system.
Belgium customs officials said the latest discovery was nothing new. Among previous shipments seized includes bottles of "Shampagne" from Ethiopia and "Champana" from Argentina.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary