China will usher in the first comprehensive local regulations on geographical indications. Recently, the regulations of Guangdong Province on geographical indications (Draft for comments) (hereinafter referred to as the regulations) were issued. Guangdong will actively take advantage of the opportunity of the implementation of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (RCEP) to take effective measures to promote the development of geographical indication products in the international market and improve their international popularity and reputation. Promote the convergence of geographical indication rules in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and strengthen trade cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao. Strengthen the protection of geographical indications in a systematic way Geographical indication legislation is an important work for our province to strengthen the top-level design of intellectual property, improve the working mechanism of intellectual property, meet the requirements of economic development for intellectual property protection, and improve the governance ability and governance level. The reporter learned that at present, due to the lack of support of special laws and regulations on geographical indications, there are shortcomings in the protection and application of geographical indications in our province. The brand awareness of geographical indications is not strong and the promotion is insufficient, resulting in a large number of distinctive and valuable geographical indications being buried. Some places spend a lot of manpower and material resources to register and obtain geographical indications, and the utilization rate is not high. The situation of "emphasizing registration over use" is still serious, which seriously affects the due role of geographical indications in economic and social development. The reporter learned that at present, there are no comprehensive laws, regulations and rules on geographical indications at the national and local levels. The regulations uniformly include three types of protection: geographical indication products, collective trademarks of geographical indications, certification trademarks and geographical indications of agricultural products. Strengthening the protection of geographical indications in a systematic way will be the first comprehensive local regulations on geographical indications in China. The regulations point out that geographical indications refer to signs indicating that the product comes from a specific region, and the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the product are mainly determined by the natural or human factors of the region. Geographical indications include geographical indications protected by national geographical indication products, geographical indications registered as collective trademarks or certification trademarks, geographical indications of agricultural products, and foreign geographical indications protected in China. In terms of trade in geographical indications, the regulations point out that people's governments at or above the county level should actively take advantage of the implementation opportunity of RCEP and take effective measures to promote geographical indication products to explore the international market and improve their international popularity and reputation. The rules of trade in geographical indications between Guangdong and Hong Kong and Macao will be strengthened, and the international trade in geographical indications between Guangdong and Hong Kong and Macao will be held. CCPIT at all levels provide facilitation services for the trade of geographical indication products. In terms of international mutual recognition and mutual insurance, the people's governments at or above the county level promote the inclusion of geographical indication products into international mutual recognition and mutual insurance of geographical indications. Support the producers and operators of geographical indication products that have been included in the international list of mutual recognition and mutual insurance of geographical indications to carry out foreign cooperation and exchanges and actively explore overseas markets. Pay attention to the protection of Guangdong's advantageous resources Guangdong Province has a rich variety of characteristic agricultural products. At present, there are 162 geographical indication protection products, 779 special geographical indication enterprises, 10 geographical indication products selected into the China EU geographical indication mutual recognition and mutual protection directory, and 3 national geographical indication product protection demonstration areas. The formulation of the regulations will help our province cultivate more new resources, obtain the protection of geographical indications, give full play to the advantages of the intellectual property system, promote the quality and efficiency of characteristic agricultural industries, actively build regional brands and help the implementation of the Rural Revitalization Strategy. According to the relevant person in charge of the provincial market supervision bureau, at present, China adopts a two track protection mode for geographical indications, that is, on the one hand, protect geographical indications according to geographical indication products and agricultural products, on the other hand, convert geographical indications into collective trademarks and certification trademarks according to the provisions of the trademark law. "The formulation of the regulations will be able to unify geographical indication products, geographical indication trademarks and geographical indications of agricultural products into special laws through special legislation, and clarify the responsibilities of local governments and functional departments for geographical indications, which is conducive to the systematic protection of geographical indications, improve public awareness and protection awareness, and improve the level of protection." In addition, unlike the previous laws and regulations on geographical indications, which usually focus on the procedural guarantee of the application, confirmation of rights and protection of geographical indications, the regulations provide a comprehensive and chain legal guarantee for geographical indications from the aspects of the cultivation, use, application, protection, service and exchange of geographical indications. The regulations also highlight the characteristics of geographical indications in Guangdong. Pay attention to the protection of Guangdong's advantageous resources and cultivate geographical indications. Pay attention to promoting the use of geographical indications, forming characteristic industries of geographical indications and accelerating brand construction. Pay attention to giving full play to the regional advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Dawan District, strengthen the exchange and cooperation of geographical indications, and promote the "going out" of landmark products. (Xinhua News Agency)