Geography adds value

One of the ways by which European farmers and food producers have been attempting to move up the value chain and away from production of bulk commodities is by taking advantage of schemes to highlight the distinctiveness of food and drink products, known as geographical indication (GI) schemes.

The EU has a registration scheme for products which have a specific geographical origin (protection of designated origin, PDO, or protection of geographical origin) such as Parma ham or Scotch beef and lamb. There is also the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status which applies to products made according to traditional procedures such as mozzarella cheese and a number of specialist Belgian beers.

The schemes have been successful with 788 products having been registered under the schemes. In one case, the makers of Newcastle Brown Ale had to apply for its PDO status to be cancelled when they moved production of the beer outside Newcastle to Gateshead, just across the River Tyne.

The EU legislation only applies to food products, wines and spirit drinks and there are calls for the scheme to be extended to other products. The European Commission is currently considering an application from hand-harvested salt producers even though salt, as a mineral, does not qualify as an agricultural product. Farm ministers from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Slovenia have written to Mariann Fischer Boel, the European farm commissioner, asking for the scope of the legislation to be extended to cover salt. There are also requests to include cardato pratese, a special wool from Tuscany.

The Commission is planning to publish a green paper on quality policy in agriculture this year which will address the GI schemes as well as other measures to improve and highlight the quality of EU products.

The EU has also been leading efforts for better protection of GIs in the World Trade Organization. It has had some support from other countries including India and Thailand but they face resistance from the US, Australia and New Zealand. A deal on improved GI protection will only be struck as part of an overall package on a new global trade liberalisation agreement. The prospect of such a deal has receded until after a new US administration has taken office early in 2009.

One of the ways by which European farmers and food producers have been attempting to move up the value chain and away from production of bulk commodities is by taking advantage of schemes to highlight the distinctiveness of food and drink products, known as geographical indication (GI) schemes.