United States and European Immigrants

European Commission: Canada and the United States say the EU system is unfair because European immigrants have long produced such products as Greek feta and should be allowed to export it as such, according to Globe and Mail. They also argue that there is no place called feta and so it should not receive geographic protection. Greece, which says feta is its cultural heritage because it has made the sheep and goat milk cheese for 6,000 years, wants Canadian producers to label their cheese ‘feta-style’. Geographical protection of European food names is also causing tension with the United States, where the EU is seeking an even bigger deal than that of Canada. But the issue of food is emotive in Europe and the European Commission is struggling to maintain support for its ambitious trade strategy that includes free-trade deals with the world biggest economies. Some German politicians also want the Canada-EU deal reopened to change highly contested investor arbitration rules, worried that North American companies will use international dispute settlement panels instead of national courts to challenge EU laws they view as harmful to profitability. Talks with Canada were launched in May 2009 but stalled several times over issues such as the size of quotas for Canadian beef and the issue of geographical protections. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.