(Decanter) - Eighteen New Zealand winemaking areas have raced to take advantage of a new regulation introduced by the country’s parliament that is designed to better protect winemakers against misuse of regional names.

The Geographical Indications (GI) Registration Act, which came into force on 27 July, will allow for a collective registration of wine and spirits in New Zealand as intellectual property of a region.

It enshrines in law the principle that only wines produced within a particular region, such as Marlborough or Hawke’s Bay, will be able to use its name on the label.

Jeffrey Clarke, acting CEO of trade body New Zealand Winegrowers, said that GIs ‘are at the very heart of the New Zealand wine story and this new law provides an additional level of protection for them’.