Public Consultation – On the Protection of Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs
We would like to inform you that the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment announces the commencement of the Public Consultation for the draft law “The Protection of Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications of Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs (Amendment) Law of 2024.”
The purpose of the bill is to amend the main law to:
1. Harmonize the definition of the Control Body with the corresponding definition in Union legislation,
2. Add new provisions allowing the Competent Authority to include in the Control and Certification System of a PDO/PGI: (a) Entities related to the Specifications of a PDO/PGI (e.g., raw material producers, collectors, and transporters of raw materials) and
(b) Entities involved in the processing and marketing of products containing PDO/PGI ingredients,
3. Introduce a provision for exporters to notify the Competent Authority of exports to third countries and movements to other member states of PDO/PGI products,
4. Add new provisions for administrative sanctions (e.g., detention, change of labeling/naming of a product, revocation, or suspension of approval) as well as administrative fines up to €300,000 in cases of identified non-compliances. Additionally, in the context of administrative sanctions, a provision for the publication of the details of a business whose approval has been revoked (name and shame) has been included,
5. Amend the ability to impose, in the case of criminal offenses, a financial penalty of up to €300,000.
Interested parties can submit their comments and observations through the Public Consultation platform no later than Monday, December 23, 2024, by clicking here.
