That was a concession to the EUSSR, who at one point insisted that only regionally-named-and-made products (e.g. Champagne from Champagne, cheddar cheese from Cheddar, even parmesan cheese from Italy) could be labeled with their traditional names, and even insisted on imposing this on the entire planet.
Actually the protection of geographic origins can be traced back to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883 (yes, 1883) which slightly predates the EUSSR...the USA has been a member to that treaty since 1887 as one of the earliest signatories, btw...