Geographical indications
A new era for geographical indications (GIs) has dawned with the publication of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143, effective from May 13, 2024.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1143, issued by the European Parliament and the Council, stands as a groundbreaking initiative by unifying all agri-food, wine, and spirit drinks with geographical indication (GI) under a single legislative framework. This comprehensive approach aims to fortify the role of Protection Consortia and furnish more effective tools to foster competitive and sustainable development in the realm of high-quality productions. Core objectives include consolidating the regulatory framework, enhancing sustainable integration into European quality policies, and bolstering the position of GI producers within the food chain.
This regulation represents a meticulous amendment to existing regulations, including Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2019/787, and (EU) 2019/1753, demonstrating the EU’s commitment to upholding the integrity and value of geographical indications while fostering harmonization and coherence across European quality standards and policies.
Protected designation of origin (PDO)
The Protected designation of origin is the name of an area, a specific place or, in exceptional cases, the name of a country, used as a designation for an agricultural product or a foodstuff, which comes from such an area, place or country, whose quality or properties are significantly or exclusively determined by the geographical environment, including natural and human factors, whose production, processing and preparation takes place within the determined geographical area. In other words, to receive the PDO status, the entire product must be traditionally and entirely manufactured (prepared, processed and produced) within the specific region and thus acquire unique properties.
Protected geographical indication (PGI)
The Protected geographical indication is the name of an area, a specific place or, in exceptional cases, the name of a country, used as a description of an agricultural product or a foodstuff, which comes from such an area, place or country, which has a specific quality, goodwill or other characteristic property, attributable to its geographical origin,
whose production, processing or preparation takes place within the determined geographical area. In other words, to receive the PGI status, the entire product must be traditionally and at least partially manufactured (prepared, processed or produced) within the specific region and thus acquire unique properties.
Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG)
The TSG quality scheme aims to provide a protection regime for traditional food products of specific character. Differing from PDO and PGI, this quality scheme does not certify that the protected food product has a link to specific geographical area. To qualify for a TSG a food must be of “specific character” and either its raw materials, production method or processing must be “traditional”. Under Art. 3 of Regulation 1151/12 “specific character” is defined as “the characteristic production attributes which distinguish a product clearly from other similar products of the same category”. Under Art. 3 of Regulation 1151/12 “traditional” is defined as “proven usage on the domestic market for a period that allows transmission between generations; this period is to be at least 30 years”. For a food name to be registrable under the TSG scheme it must (a) have been traditionally used to refer to the specific product; or (b) identify the traditional character or specific character of the product.
Bioagricert controls the following Geographical Indications in Italy: CLICK HERE