The "Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields Act of 2025," or SAFETY Act of 2025, amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to preserve foreign markets for goods using common names. It establishes a comprehensive definition of a "common name," describing it as a name ordinarily or customarily used for an agricultural commodity or food product, typically found on packaging, and consistent with Codex Alimentarius Commission standards. The bill explicitly lists numerous examples of such common names for food products, including "Parmesan," "Feta," and "Gorgonzola," as well as wine varietal terms and descriptors like "Vintage," and various beer styles such as "Pilsener" and "India Pale Ale. To achieve its objective, the Act mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to coordinate with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to secure the right of U.S. agricultural producers, processors, and exporters to use these common names in foreign markets. This is to be accomplished through the negotiation of bilateral, plurilateral, or multilateral agreements, memoranda of understanding, or exchanges of letters. Additionally, the Secretary and USTR are required to provide semi-annual briefings to key Congressional committees on their progress in these efforts to defend the use of common names.
The "Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields Act of 2025," or SAFETY Act of 2025, amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to preserve foreign markets for goods using common names. It establishes a comprehensive definition of a "common name," describing it as a name ordinarily or customarily used for an agricultural commodity or food product, typically found on packaging, and consistent with Codex Alimentarius Commission standards. The bill explicitly lists numerous examples of such common names for food products, including "Parmesan," "Feta," and "Gorgonzola," as well as wine varietal terms and descriptors like "Vintage," and various beer styles such as "Pilsener" and "India Pale Ale. To achieve its objective, the Act mandates the Secretary of Agriculture to coordinate with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to secure the right of U.S. agricultural producers, processors, and exporters to use these common names in foreign markets. This is to be accomplished through the negotiation of bilateral, plurilateral, or multilateral agreements, memoranda of understanding, or exchanges of letters. Additionally, the Secretary and USTR are required to provide semi-annual briefings to key Congressional committees on their progress in these efforts to defend the use of common names.