The United States and the European Union are engaged in a long-running trade dispute over the use of cheese names such as feta, Parmesan, and Asiago. Both sides are trying to ensure that their own rules dominate international markets.

A typical example is the Sartori family from Wisconsin, which has been producing Asiago cheese for four generations, continuing a tradition started by Italian immigrant Paolo Sartori.

However, under pressure from Europe, many countries are prohibiting American companies from using the name “Asiago,” arguing that it should be reserved exclusively for cheese produced in specific regions of Italy and according to strict standards.

The same restrictions apply to products like Parmesan and Romano. As a result, companies such as Sartori are forced to limit how they market their products outside the United States, sometimes avoiding even general descriptive terms.

“Consumers should decide which cheese wins in the marketplace, not European lawyers,” says Bert Sartori, the great-grandson of the company’s founder.

The American counterattack

According to The Wall Street Journal, Washington is attempting to reshape the rules by including provisions in trade agreements that classify these names as “generic,” meaning they describe a type of product rather than its geographic origin.

In this effort, countries such as Taiwan, Malaysia, and Argentina have agreed to allow U.S. companies to market their products using widely recognized cheese names.

“Last year marked significant progress,” said Shawna Morris of the U.S. National Milk Producers Federation.

Europe’s reaction

The European Union, meanwhile, continues to defend its system of protected designations of origin. The Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano, which represents hundreds of Italian producers, maintains that products like Parmigiano can only bear that name if they are made in northern Italy under strict production standards.

In 2023, a U.S. company was required to remove the word “Parmesan” from promotional materials at a trade exhibition in Germany following regulatory intervention. According to the Consorzio, sales of imitation “Parmesan” outside the EU exceed €2 billion annually.

When a name becomes “generic”

American dairy producers, with their large-scale operations and efficiency, are often able to offer lower prices than European competitors. U.S. cheese exports rose by 20% last year.

At the same time, there is no clear international standard for when a name stops being tied to a place and becomes generic. For example, “Cheddar” is now widely considered a type of cheese rather than one exclusively from the Cheddar region of England, whereas “Champagne” remains strictly linked to a specific region in France.

Feta in focus

Feta is another key point of contention. The European Union insists that feta, although not named after a place, can only be produced in certain regions of Greece, following traditions that date back thousands of years.

According to the EU, feta is even referenced in Homer’s Odyssey, where it appears in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus. In contrast, in the United States, feta is treated simply as a type of white, crumbly cheese, regardless of where it is produced.

The “battle” in global markets

In practice, the U.S. and EU have reached a stalemate in their domestic markets, shifting the conflict to international trade.

In Indonesia, for instance, the EU secured an agreement recognizing feta as exclusively Greek and gorgonzola as Italian. Shortly afterward, the Trump administration negotiated a separate deal allowing U.S. producers to use the same names.

However, these agreements have yet to be fully ratified, and the European Commission has warned against undermining existing commitments.

New agreements and future prospects

A similar situation is unfolding in Australia, where a new agreement with the EU requires producers to gradually phase out names such as “fontina” and imposes restrictions on the use of “feta” for new businesses.

Ian Schuman, an executive at New Jersey–based Schuman Cheese, welcomed Washington’s efforts, emphasizing that “agreements in Southeast Asia and Latin America are especially important due to their growing populations and rising demand for cheese.”