Geographic Indication Without Disclosure Depth

Geographic Indication (GI) systems protect the origin name of a product but do not structure the product-level information that makes the origin meaningful. This paper examines the structural gap between GI registration and the disclosure depth buyers, institutions, and consumers need to understand what distinguishes a GI product from a non-GI alternative. The paper documents how GI protects a name while leaving practices, terroir attributes, heritage context, compositional characteristics, and production evidence unstructured and non-portable. A GI tag confirms origin jurisdiction. It does not constitute product-level disclosure.