Belgian chocolate makers will meet regional governments from next month to decide how Belgium might apply to the EU to protect Belgian chocolates.
The industry believes its renowned pralines should have similar protection to that enjoyed by French champagne or Italy's Parma ham and want the term "Belgian chocolate" to be Belgium's exclusive preserve. They also want to crack down on foreign rivals dressing up their products as "Belgian style" or from a "Belgian recipe".
Copycats, they say, eat into sales and undermine a stamp of quality built up over the century since Jean Neuhaus invented the hard-shelled, cream-filled chocolate, the praline, in 1912.
"What makes us sad is that very often the copies are not up to the standard of the originals," said Jos Linkens, chief executive of Neuhaus.
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