In a judgment deliver last month by the Administrative Court of Uppsala (Förvaltningsrätten i Uppsala) in Case 1243-22, Sveriges bagare och konditorer AB v Livsmedelsveret, it ruled that ‘cinnomn buns’ (kanelbulle/kanelbullar) is a generic term, that cannot benefit from protected designation within the EU.
Regulation 1151/2012, a piece of EU secondary law, concerns quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, and allows for protected designations, which, inter alia, allows producers of protected good to convey information about the food’s contents and particular qualities. A prerequisite for acquiring a protected designation is the meeting of specific criteria, including a name, and allows as specifics of a given good.
The applicants in the case at hand,, Sveriges bagare och konditorer AB (SBK), had asked for cinnamon buns to be a good of protected designation. In order for such a protected designation to be granted by the European Commission, it falls to a national competent authority in a Member State where an application has been made – in this case, the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket) – to make the registration to the European Commission.
The Swedish Food Agency decided it would not register SBK’s application with the Commission, on the basis that, whilst cinnamon buns have a close connection to Sweden, it is nonetheless the case that cinnamon buns do not necessarily contain ingredients from Sweden, and can be manufactured elsewhere. In other words, the Agency held that a ‘cinnamon bun’ does not identify one product, but rather, many similar products. Put another way: a ‘cinnamon bun’ is a generic term that cannot be protected. The Administrative Court of Uppsala agreed with the Agency.
The ruling of the Administrative Court of Uppsala (Förvaltningsrätten i Uppsala) in Case 1243-22, Sveriges bagare och konditorer AB v Livsmedelsveret can be accessed here.