Brussels, 03/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of EU member states on the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) met in Brno in the Czech Republic on Monday 1 June to discuss the latest European Commission communication on quality products (see EUROPE 9910). The Czech Presidency hopes that European agriculture ministers will adopt conclusions on this issue at their next Council meeting in Luxembourg on 22-23 June. The SCA will hold further discussions on this matter at its meeting on Monday 8 June.
The CSA experts were in general agreement with the Commission that a simpler system had to be found and that the time taken to approve new geographical indications had to be shortened. Most delegations also felt that the consumer should not be swamped with too much information on the product. There were, however, differences between member states. Some warned that simplification must not lead to deregulation and a lowering of the quality of foodstuffs.
The Commission proposes merging the current three systems (wines, spirits and agricultural products, and foodstuffs) into one single regulatory structure. This idea was greeted with scepticism by several delegations (concerned about a loss of specificity), as was the proposal to merge the two existing instruments, PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication).
The European Union scheme for registering “traditional specialities guaranteed” (TSG) protects the names of traditional products. The Commission proposes to do away with this scheme since only 20 names have been registered since 1992. Several delegations would prefer to retain the scheme and make it more effective. The Commission proposes to replace the current TSG scheme with the reserved term “traditional product” in marketing standards. There was virtual unanimity in the SCA on the need to better promote and protect European products in third countries. (L.C./transl.rt)