Registration of Kalamata Olives as Intellectual Property Renews Controversy in Greece

Kalamata table olives with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) have received inter­na­tional prop­erty pro­tec­tion after being reg­is­tered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under their Greek name, Elia Kalamatas.

Kalamata PDO table olives come from the indige­nous Greek Kalamon cul­ti­var pro­duced in the Messenia pre­fec­ture in south­ern Peloponnese.

WIPO, a legally bind­ing inter­na­tional reg­is­ter for Appellations of Origin (AOs) and Geographical Indications (GIs), will pro­tect Kalamata PDO table olives from imi­ta­tions and coun­ter­feit­ing in 76 coun­tries world­wide.

Kalamata olives from Messenia also bear a pro­tected geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tor from the European Union since 1996.

“We unwa­ver­ingly con­tinue our efforts to defend and pro­tect the world-famous Protected Designation of Origin despite those who try by all means to abol­ish it,” the Messenia Union of Agricultural Associations, which ini­ti­ated and mon­i­tored the WIPO appli­ca­tion for Kalamata olives, said in a state­ment.

“We empower and invest in iconic PDO appel­la­tions with vision, plan, sci­en­tific intel­li­gence and seri­ous­ness,” they added.

However, the Greek National Interprofessional Association of Table Olives (Doepel) con­tra­dicted the union’s state­ment, say­ing it was inac­cu­rate and raised sus­pi­cions.

“It is clear, as we have stressed many times, that no one opposes or tries to abol­ish the Elia Kalamatas PDO,” the inter­pro­fes­sional said. ​“However, it should be noted that the [Kalamata table olive PDO] exhibits no export poten­tial what­so­ever. In par­tic­u­lar, the largest quan­tity exported since 1996… has not exceeded 247 tons — 0.30 per­cent of Greek exports of the Kalamon/Kalamata vari­ety.”

The dis­pute between the Messenia Union and the national inter­pro­fes­sional shows that the cov­eted Kalamata appel­la­tion, which con­fers world­wide recog­ni­tion to the prod­uct, con­tin­ues to divide the Greek table olive sec­tor.

Producers of Kalamon olives based in Messenia claim that the Kalamata name des­ig­nates a PDO prod­uct and should be reserved only for olives pro­duced in the region.

Kalamon pro­duc­ers in other regions argue that the Kalamata name should be used freely through­out Greece since the olives come from the same cul­ti­var.

The Greek state and the country’s supreme court have also been drawn into the dis­pute, under­scor­ing the chasm between pro­duc­ers.

In September 2022, the Greek gov­ern­ment issued a min­is­te­r­ial decree allow­ing all pro­duc­ers of Kalamon table olives in the coun­try to use the Kalamata brand name.

The 2022 deci­sion to re-reg­is­ter Kalamata olives on the national list of plant vari­eties, allow­ing pro­duc­ers across Greece to use the name, was an effort to reverse a supreme court deci­sion that over­turned the 2018 min­is­te­r­ial decree that ini­tially reg­is­tered Kalamata olives on the list.

The free­ing of the Kalamata brand name sig­nif­i­cantly boosted exports of Kalamon olives from Greece, mar­keted as Kalamata or Kalamata PDO for those pro­duced in Messenia, meet­ing the PDO require­ments.

However, it enabled olive pro­duc­ers in other coun­tries to pro­mote their Kalamon olives as Kalamata, directly com­pet­ing with Greek pro­duc­ers.

The Messenian table olive pro­duc­ers have again appealed the 2022 min­is­te­r­ial decree to the Greek Council of State, and the Supreme Court’s deci­sion is still pend­ing.

In boun­ti­ful years, Kalamon/Kalamata olives pro­duc­tion in Greece can exceed 100,000 tons. Around 80 per­cent of pro­duc­tion is des­tined for export to inter­na­tional mar­kets with an export value of more than €200 mil­lion.

• Agro24