A local cooperative of winemakers in northern Greece on Wednesday announced that it will file a lawsuit in Germany. The lawsuit is against distributors and super market retailers offering wines from the neighbouring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) under the indication “Macedonia”.
The president of the Association of Winemakers & Viticulturalists of Northern Greece (ENOABE), Yiannis Voyiatzis, noted that several retailers in Germany have already complied with European laws and removed the wines from their shelves.
The term “Macedonia” enjoys a European Union-mandated Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status for wines produced in the Greek province of Macedonia. The region dominates northern Greece and is the land mass linked with historical and geographical Macedonia.
“This specific geographic designation is only allowed for wines emanating from the geographic province of Macedonia in Greece,” stated Voyiatzis.
He noted that the circulation of wines from the former Yugoslav Republic to Greece’s immediate north bearing the stand-alone name “Macedonia” or “Macedonian” was recently banned in Slovenia as well.
According to the ENOABE president, his association has been in contact with Greek embassies in all EU member-states to ascertain whether similar instances of illegal wine branding has occurred.
(source: ana-mpa)
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