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The AOC system is controlled and nur-tured by the INAO, which rightly takes a serious view of its task. It speaks of the "worldwide struggle to protect the appellations d origine from every possible external threat". These threats include misuse of wine names on other wines - such as sparkling wine labelled as cham-pagne - and on products as various as mustard and perfume.
EC law is in line with the INAO on protection of names, and the European Community has negoti-ated with other countries, such as Australia, to establish mutual recog-nition of appellation names.
The INAO concludes its justifica-tion of the appellation philosophy like this: "Unlike a brand name, which belongs to a single person or company .... the appellation is the joint, inalienable property of the whole community of people working the land to which it applies."
Specific appellations work to pro-tect their own name. The champagne industry is particularly active through the Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), which has fought legal actions in several coun-tries to protect the name "cham-pagne", whether it appears on a wine label or on any other product. Other wine regions have similar bodies.
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