Copa-Cogeca urges on maintaining the specificities of the different systems applied to the wine and food products

The European Commission is preparing a proposal to reform the Community legislation in the field of geographical indications and to simplify the current system of protected designations of origin (PDO) and geographical indications (GI), within the framework of its quality policy. One of the options that is analysing the European Commission is the merger of the systems for wines, aromatized wines, spirits and agricultural products. Legislation on PDO and PGI aims to promote quality and to protect the regional specialties, which have a reputation more than deserved, imitation products.

However, the Secretary general of the Copa-Cogeca, Pekka Pesonen, said: "Call on the Commission to ensure the maintenance of the specificities of the various systems, a position that there are many differences between the systems of geographical indications for wine, spirits and agricultural products." The main is that the definitions of protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) are very different. A wine PGI must occur within the geographical area in question and 85% of the grapes must also come from the same area. By virtue of the horizontal legislation, only one of the following processes should be in the geographical area: the production, processing or preparation. "What is more, the rules that apply to spirituous beverages are only covered by legislation on the IGP, but not PDO".