The European Commission has announced this week that it will overhaul a variety of schemes that help producers to highlight and protect the quality of their products.
The EC has set out a proposal for a new 'Agricultural Product Quality Schemes Regulation', which it has said will bring coherence and clarity to existing EU schemes, such as the flagship scheme for protected designations of origin and geographical indications (PDOs and PGIs), the Traditional Specialities Guaranteed scheme (TSGs) and Optional Quality Terms.
According to the EC, the proposal reinforces these EU quality schemes by gathering them into a single piece of legislation. As a result, a common and simplified registration procedure for geographical indications and traditional specialities will be introduced, as well as clearer guidelines on the relations between trademarks and geographical indications, the role of applicant groups and the definition of a 'traditional speciality guaranteed'.
'Consumers as well as producers will benefit as the strengthened schemes will allow for more informed product choices to be made,' the EC statement read.
The proposal forms part of a wider package announced to help support quality agricultural products in the EU, while other measures in the so-called 'Quality Package' include a proposal to streamline adoption of marketing standards by the Commission and new guidelines on best practices for voluntary certification schemes and on the labelling of products using geographical indications as ingredients.
It marks the first step in the EC overhaul of agricultural product quality policy, and is the result of three years of consultation and stakeholder participation.
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