French wine producers are outraged that American producers might be able to sell "chateau"-type wine in the EU. See here, here and here for all the details. According to the French producers, the American standards for using the term "chateau" are much lower than the French ones, and thus it would not be appropriate for American products to have "chateau" on the label.
The EU was supposed to reach a decision on this today, but delayed it.
One thing I found interesting was that foreign ownership of French chateau production was less of a concern:
Wealthy British bought Bordeaux chateaux in the 19th century and even before. Then came rich Americans seeking to buy into tradition, followed by Japanese in the 1970s. More recently, it is the turn of Chinese. During the past three years, about 30 chateaux in the Bordeaux region have been purchased by Chinese, out of a total of 7,400.The most recent was Chateau Bellefont-Belcier, a prestigious first growth gobbled up by a rare metals tycoon. On the other side of the country, a Chinese firm recently bought a prestigious Gevrey-Chambertin vineyard, Chateau Gevrey, for China’s first big move into high-end burgundies.
But foreign ownership is not the issue, Haverlan noted. That, too, is part of the Bordeaux tradition. The problem is that, in France, the word “chateau” on the label has a meaning that the American growers do not respect. ...
So that leads me to the following convoluted trade and investment law question: If the EU had let in U.S. exports, and China had a fairly modern BIT with France with all the usual protections (there is a mid-1980s BIT, but I haven't check the contents, and I don't want to let them undermine my hypothetical so I'm not going to), could the Chinese chateau owners have filed an investment claim against France for failing to convince the EU to keep out U.S. exports?
There's so much going on here I'm not even sure where to begin. I suggest you professors out there ask this as an exam question and see what responses you get.
(Even less seriously, I'm also wondering if I can still refer to the GATT Article XX "chapeau," or will I have to start calling it the introductory clause?)
