Traditional Lambic and Gueuze Terms Receive European Protection

On November 21, 1997, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2301/97 entered into force and registered several traditional Belgian beer names in the European Register of Certificates of Specific Character. The protected names were Vieille Gueuze, Vieille Gueuze-Lambic, Vieux Lambic, Oude Geuze, Oude Geuze-Lambiek, Oude Lambiek, Faro, and corresponding traditional names for old Kriek and other fruit Lambics. The registration entitled qualifying products to use the European designation then known as a guaranteed traditional speciality. The protection concerned traditional character and production rather than geographical origin, making it a predecessor of the modern European Union Traditional Speciality Guaranteed system rather than a Protected Geographical Indication. In 2017, the Oude or Vieille Gueuze, Lambic, Kriek, and fruit-Lambic groups were entered in the modern TSG register with reservation of their names. The legal framework thus distinguished beers made according to the registered traditional specifications from products using similar terminology without meeting those requirements.