Indication of origin

The indication of origin is the term used by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property to designate indications of the origin or geographical provenance of a product. According to said agreement, these indications will have the same protection as a trademark. The different indications of origin and their level of protection will depend on the national legislation of each country. For example, only wines made in the Bordeaux region that follow the conditions established for their production can be called Bordeaux wine.

Protected indications of origin are usually used in food products that have a specific Geographical Indication and that have some quality or reputation that is due to said place of origin. These foods are usually called "Certified Quality Foods" or "Differentiated Quality Foods."

History

Governments have protected trade names and trademarks used in connection with food products identified with a particular region since at least the turn of the century XIX, with the use of laws against false trade descriptions or fraudulent imitation, which generally protect against suggestions that a product has a certain origin, quality or association when it does not.

One of the first systems of indication of protected origin is the one used in France since the first part of the known XX century as appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC). Products that meet geographic origin and quality standards can affix a government-issued seal that acts as the official certification of the product's origin and standards to the consumer.

Indications of provenance have become associated with the concept of terroir and with Europe as an entity, where there is a tradition of associating certain food products with particular regions.

European Union regulations

In accordance with European Union regulations, indications of origin are protected if the link of the product with the geographical environment gives it some special or differentiated characteristic from other equivalent products. With that protection, the product can benefit from the good reputation of the geographic region and vice versa.

Among the different levels of quality regimes in the European Union, we can find the following:

• Protected Geographical Indication (GPI): Product originating from a particular place, which possesses a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic that can essentially be attributed to its geographical origin. At least its production, transformation or processing phases will take place in the defined geographical area.
• Denomination of Protected Origin (DOP): Product originating from a particular place, whose quality or characteristics are primarily or exclusively due to the particular geographical environment, with all those natural and human factors inherent in it. This product must be produced in all phases of its production, in the defined geographical area.
• Guaranteed Traditional Specialty (ETG): Products produced according to the traditional form of a particular place, which have specific traits differentiating other foods of the same category. These agricultural or food products must be produced from traditional raw materials, or present a composition, mode of production or traditional transformation.

Examples of protected indications

These signs are applicable to a wide range of products, among others, we can mention "Roquefort" used to designate a cheese produced in the region of the town of Roquefort, in France.

However, it is not limited only to agricultural products, since it can serve to highlight the particular qualities of a product that are a consequence of human factors specific to the place of origin. The geographical indication "Swiss" (Swiss), protected in many countries and used to designate products made in Switzerland.

Spain

In Spain, the protected geographical identification (PGI) applied to lamb is notable, a certification endorsed by the European Commission, whose objective is to designate the name of lamb meat whose production, transformation and preparation has a specific geographical origin, and whose quality or reputation is due to said place.

This seal (PGI) is very important and currently there are different designations of origin and Protected Geographical Indications: Banana from the Canary Islands, Galician Veal, Carne from Ávila, Segureño Lamb, Ternasco from Aragón, Lechazo from Castilla and León, Lamb from Extremadura, Veal from Extremadura, Manchego Lamb, Alfacar Bread, Navarre Lamb, Huétor-Tájar Asparagus, Veal from the Catalan Pyrenees, Galician Bread or Morcilla de Burgos.

This is a badge that verifies that products with the PGI seal are within the list of agri-food products of certified origin, quality and quality, protected by European Union standards.

Increasingly, consumers are demanding greater transparency about the products they acquire or consume, hence the need to have protection figures that recognize and certify their origin, quality, as well as other aspects related to control, transformation and food security.

In the case of Spanish lamb meat, the PGI implies a strict control program that consists of monitoring the lambs from their birth to the circulation of the meat at the point of sale. In addition, the origin, breed, production, feeding, health, transportation, slaughter and distribution to establishments for sale to the public are controlled. In this sense, lambs must be slaughtered before 35 days of age in the case of suckling pigs and between 60 and 90 days in the case of recent lambs. The weight of the cold carcass should range between 10 and 15 kilograms for the Recental and 4.5 kilograms to 7 kilograms for the Suckling Pig, after the seasoning period. Likewise, its presentation must be complete without congenital anomalies or other deformations, without icteric (yellow) tints and with correct bleeding.

Regulations for the protection of indications of origin

Geographical indications are not authorized if the use of the term could mislead as to the true origin of the product. The applicable sanctions range from court orders prohibiting the use of the indication of origin, to prison sentences, to compensation for damages and fines.

Geographical indications are protected by several international treaties:

• the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883
• the Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of the Denominations of Origin and its International Register
• Articles 22 to 24 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO).