Regional bickering endangers hope of patent protection for local food products

While officials are attempting to register oscypek in Brussels, they are encountering problems, as the sheep's milk cheese in question is not produced in accordance with EU sanitary norms. Another problem facing those wishing to register food products is the difficulty in reaching an agreement between the country's regions with regards to the ingredients and processes required to make particular foods. "Poland is a country with very rich culinary traditions, which could boast a number of regional products," said a representative of the European Integration Committee (UKIE). However, the upshot of these internal disagreements may be that while this country dithers, the Czechs, Slovaks or other Central European countries will register products previously deemed traditional in this country as their own. Should this happen, domestic firms would have to change the names of various products. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) M.M.