Quality marks of Typical Products 

Quality marks of Typical Products  e DOP, IGP and TSG Quality Certification

A quality certification is a recognition by third parties (accredited control bodies) that a certain product conforms to a predetermined production discipline and to certain quality standards.
With the certification it is possible to affix a Quality Mark which is an identification system that allows the consumer to recognize a product on the basis of some specific characteristics. Buying a certified product, and therefore with a Quality Mark, means buying a product whose quality and specific characteristics are guaranteed by a set of rules and controls. The three main quality brands concern PDO, PGI and TSG products.

Standards of Reference

The three main quality brands concern products DOP, IGP e STG are governed by the regulations:

• Regulation (EU) n. 1151 of 21 November 2012;
• Delegated regulation (EU) n. 664 of 18 December 2013;
• Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 668 of 13 June 2014.

Regulation 151 does not apply to spirit drinks, aromatised wines or wine products as defined in Annex XIb of Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007, with the exception of wine vinegars.

Disciplinary and objectives of quality certification

The production specification defines the rules to which producers must follow (quality management), it consists in the complete description of the practices adopted to obtain the certification of a particular product.
The companies are subject to the systematic control of the Control Body which verifies the conformity of the product and the procedures adopted with what is defined in the specification (quality control). The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Policies (MIPAF) is the authority responsible for coordinating control activities.
All registered names are protected against any commercial use, usurpation, imitation, or indication that could mislead the consumer as to the origin of the products. With the birth of the European Union, to protect the typicality of some food products, the European Union launched a specific legislation in 1992 by activating some systems known as DOP, IGP and TSG (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed) to promote and protect agri-food products . 

Among the most important objectives of the birth of food product quality certifications we have:

1. To guarantee the consumer that the food he is buying has been produced according to quality standards of a certain type by providing them with information on the specific character of the products. .
2. Encourage the different agricultural productions.
3. Protect product names against abuse and imitation.

All of Europe is very rich in an immense variety of food products, however when a product becomes known beyond national borders it finds itself in a market where other products define themselves as genuine and flaunt the same name. This unfair competition not only discourages producers but is misleading for consumers.

PDO: Protected Designation of Origin

La Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) identifies the denomination of a product whose production, transformation and elaboration must take place in a specific geographical area characterized by a recognized and established expertise. The brand designates a product originating from a region and a country whose qualities and characteristics are essentially, or exclusively, due to the geographical environment (a term that includes natural and human factors).

PGI: Protected Geographical Indication

With the'Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), the link with the territory is present in at least one of the stages of production, transformation or elaboration of the product. In addition, the product enjoys a certain reputation.
Basically, the PGI acronym identifies a product originating from a region and a country whose quality, reputation and characteristics can be traced back to its geographical origin, and of which at least one stage of production, transformation and processing takes place in the defined area.

SGT: Guaranteed Traditional Specialty

A Guaranteed Traditional Specialty (TSG) it does not refer to an origin but has as its object that of enhancing a traditional composition of the product or a traditional production method.

WINES DOP (DOC, DOCG) and IGP (IGT)

La Denomination of Controlled Origin, known by the acronym DOC, is an Italian origin mark used in oenology which certifies the area of ​​origin and delimited harvesting of the grapes used for the production of the product on which the mark is affixed; it is used to designate a quality and renowned product, whose characteristics are connected to the natural environment and human factors and respect a specific production specification

La Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin, known by the acronym DOCG are reserved for wines already recognized with denomination of controlled origin (DOC) for at least five years that are considered of particular value, in relation to the intrinsic qualitative characteristics, compared to the average of those of similar wines thus classified, due to the effect of traditional natural, human and historical factors and which have acquired a reputation and commercial valorization at national and international level.

The procedure for the recognition of denominations has profoundly changed since 2010 following the implementation of the new European legislation (EC Reg. 479/2008, "New OCM Wine", implemented in Italy with Legislative Decree 61 of 8 April 2010 in force from 11 May 2010). Among other things, the new law has brought the prerogative of approval of the denominations to the community, while previously it proceeded by means of a Ministerial Decree. Since then the DOCG classification, as well as the DOC, has been included in the community category DOP.

Community legislation provides for the possibility of replacing the Community indications "Protected Designation of Origin / Protected Geographical Indication", and the related acronyms PDO / PGI, with the corresponding traditional terms in use in the country or, for Italy, "Denomination of controlled origin" (or DOC), "Denomination of controlled and guaranteed origin" (or DOCG), "Typical geographical indication" (or IGT) .
The producer is entitled to use the traditional terms alone or together with the corresponding Community expressions.

Quality marks of Typical Products 

Quality marks of Typical Products  

 

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