Protected Since 1974
The First Protection of Origin
In 1974, a town's name became law: Mexico declared Tequila a protected designation of origin, one of the first such protections for a spirit outside Europe. International recognition followed four years later, and the EU joined in 1997.
The Declaration of 1974
On December 9, 1974, the Mexican government published the "Declaratoria de Protección" for Tequila in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, the official gazette. This gave the name legal protection for the first time: only spirits from a defined region, made from a defined plant, could carry the name. Before that, in theory, any agave spirit anywhere in Mexico could have used the name, as long as the producer dared.
Very few spirits had comparable protection at that time. Wine regions like Champagne and Cognac were already protected, but outside Europe there was hardly anything similar. Tequila is therefore considered one of the first protections of origin for a spirit outside Europe – not necessarily the very first in the world, but a very early case of its kind.
Internationally Recognized: Lisbon, 1978
At first, the law only protected the name within Mexico itself. To prevent "Tequila" from being freely copied abroad, Mexico registered the name internationally in 1978 under the Lisbon Agreement. This agreement bundles designations of origin from many countries and obliges member states to recognize them mutually.
More than forty countries have officially recognized the name ever since, though no complete list of these states was easy to find. In practical terms, this means an agave spirit bottled in Thailand or Canada can no more legally call itself "Tequila" there than one made in Bavaria could.
The EU Follows Suit in 1997
Because the Lisbon Agreement alone wasn't enough for Europe, the European Union and Mexico signed a dedicated spirits agreement in 1997. It protects Tequila and Mezcal alongside the EU's own designations of origin, such as Cognac or Ouzo. Since this treaty, no drink in Germany or any other EU country may be called "Tequila" unless it comes from the protected Mexican region.
This applies even to high-quality products: an excellent agave spirit from California or South Africa still can't be sold as tequila in the EU, no matter how similar it tastes. It needs a different name – usually "Agave Spirit," as a later stop on this journey shows.
What Protection Actually Means
Protection of origin means more than just a protected word on the label. It ties the name to a region, a specific plant, and defined production steps that a regulatory body verifies. Anyone who doesn't follow these rules may still make the product, just not call it by that name. This is exactly what distinguishes a protected name from a mere marketing claim on the bottle.
For consumers, this offers a degree of assurance: if the label says "Tequila," the contents are guaranteed to come from the protected region and were made according to fixed rules. A counterfeiter isn't just violating a trademark, but breaking government law. What exactly this region looks like, and who's left out, is covered in the next stop.
Why a Spirit Was Protected So Early
By the mid-20th century, Mexico was already exporting large quantities of tequila to the US, while American producers sold their own products with "tequila"-like names that had no real connection to Mexico. This competition over an unprotected name put pressure on the Mexican government long before other countries faced similar battles over their own spirits. For the Mexican government, this was a growing irritation that could only be solved through dedicated legislation.
The 1974 declaration was therefore also an economic decision: it secured Mexican producers exclusive rights to a name that had already become valuable abroad. Other countries followed this example only decades later, for instance with their own protection systems for whisky or vodka. This economic logic also explains why an export product like tequila led the way, rather than a drink consumed mainly at home.