Austria’s control system for wines with geographical indications is generally satisfactory, according to a report by the EU’s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) published on 23 September.
Experts evaluated the official control system in Austria for protected designations of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indications (PGI) in the wine sector.
Certification in Austria is based on prior approvals issued by the competent authority for each batch of PDO wine to be marketed.
However, for PGI wines, there is no system of prior approval and compliance with the specification is only checked during full inspections, the FVO notes. In addition, as inspections and sampling usually take place after marketing, non-compliant PDO/PGI wines could be sold before the non-compliance is discovered. In addition, official controls are carried out to prevent the illegal use of protected names of wines produced in Austria and originating from other countries.
Overall, despite the shortcomings mentioned, the Austrian control system “gives reasonable assurance that marketed wines bearing a reference to a registered name are produced in line with the product specifications, particularly for PDO wines”, the report says, making recommendations for improvements to implement control measures.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/3a6 (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)