The European Commission published an evaluation support study on geographical indications (GI) and traditional specialities guaranteed protected (TSG) in the EU. This covers 3.286 names (3.224 GIs and 62 TSGs) originating from EU Member States and registered in the EU and 32 GIs registered through direct application by third countries. The findings of the study relate to the results of the public consultation concluded on 3/2/2021.
This public consultation invites citizens and organisations, and national and regional public authorities to contribute to the assessment of how to strengthen geographical indications’ system.
The aim is to gather views on the major challenges identified that would need to be addressed in the planned revision as well as their underlying causes, the set of policy options that can be envisaged to address these challenges and the impacts stemming from these different options.
As stated by the Commission in the relevant press release: “The EU framework on geographical indications (GIs) and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSGs) is effective in reaching its objectives and provides a clear EU added value. The GI and TSG schemes are relevant and broadly coherent with other EU and national policies, but there is room for further integration of environmental sustainability and animal welfare considerations. The study identified some limits, such as the low awareness and understanding of GIs and TSGs by consumers in some Member States as well as weaknesses of the controls at the downstream stages of the value chain.”
This external study, along with the replies to the corresponding open public consultation, will contribute to the overall evaluation of geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed protected in the EU. The evaluation assesses the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value of the current GI and TSG policy. The evaluation will feed into an impact assessment, which will present and analyse the policy options for a review of the GI/TSG scheme, on which a public consultation is ongoing and open until 9 April 2021.
EU quality policy aims at protecting the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how.
Geographical indications comprise of:
- PDO – Protected Designation of Origin (food and wine)
- PGI – Protected Geographical Indication (food and wine)
- GI – Geographical Indication (spirit drinks and aromatised wines).
Geographical indications establish intellectual property rights for specific products, whose qualities are specifically linked to the area of production.
Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) highlights the traditional aspects such as the way the product is made or its composition, without being linked to a specific geographical area. The name of a product being registered as a TSG protects it against falsification and misuse. (Food and agricultural products)