Brussels, 14/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 13 September the European Parliament approved the compromise on the quality systems applicable to agricultural products and foodstuffs. The Council still has to formally adopt this regulation which will enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The regulation provides for a system of protected designations of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indications (PGI) to “help producers” of products linked to a geographical area: - by assuring a fair remuneration with regard to the quality of their products; - by guaranteeing uniform protection of the denominations as an intellectual property right throughout the EU; - by providing consumers with clear information on the properties bringing added value to the product.
The report by Iratxe Garcia Pérez (S&D, Spain) on this file was adopted by 528 votes in favour, 57 against and 33 abstentions. The regulation will cut the time limit for the European Commission's response to a registration request from 12 to just 6 months. The time allowed for raising objections with the Commission will also be reduced.
Producers' groups, processors' groups and producer-processors' groups will be empowered to take measures to protect their designation of origin and promote the authenticity and reputation of their products. Producers' groups will be able to monitor the position of their products on the market but will not have the right to establish a system to manage the volume of protected products or to adjust supply and demand, as initially requested by the agriculture committee. However, “the debate on supply management will continue as part of the discussion on the common agricultural policy reform”, Garcia Pérez said.
New definition of “traditional” products. Producers applying for a “traditional speciality guaranteed” (TSG) label will have to prove usage of a product on a domestic market for a period of at least 30 years, as opposed to 25 years currently today. The new TSG scheme will safeguard not only traditional production methods but also recipes, as requested by the Parliament.
Among the improvements brought to the initial proposal is the addition of new products like salt, beer, bread and essential oils, which until now have been unable to benefit from a PDO or PGI. Producers' groups requesting quality labels will be better able to sell and protect their products against commercial spoofing and usage attempting to deceive consumers. In addition, member states will have the option of keeping on their product label the mention of quality not covered by the regulation. Thanks to the European Parliament's activity, producers' groups will now be able to use a new mountain product label, and after being studied by the Commission, “island produce”, “local farming” and “direct sale” labels might follow on later with new legislation. (LC/transl.fl)