“The reform of the Geographical Indications protects the primacy of the Tuscan GI extra virgin olive oil, also defending it from online scams and at the same time opening new horizons with the development of the so-called Tourism Dop”.
This is the comment of president of the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan PGI Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fabrizio Filippi, on the occasion of the approval of reform of Geographical Indications (GI) after two years of negotiations. The reform is now awaited in Parliament for the definitive green light. For the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil PGI, they deserve praise for the work and efforts made on Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, to our MEP and rapporteur, Paolo de castro and the various stakeholders, first and foremost Origin, capable of condensing the various requests of the protection consortia. According to the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil PGI, the reform shares some important cornerstones starting from the theme of protection of GIs, even more consolidated thanks to the strengthening of protection in the online context through ex-officio protection for domains. The digital sphere is in fact increasingly the scene of evocations and usurpations of the verbal sign.
Another key point concerns the theme of sustainability, which becomes an important tool in the value positioning of the GI and which finds its declination not in a binding manner within the Regulations, but in an annual report with the aim of summarizing its three pillars, harmonizing thus all the heterogeneities of the different agri-food chains. In terms of simplification, the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil PGI considers it correct to maintain the role of EUIPO in the administrative field, such as the management and resolution of conflicts with trademarks. Finally, an increasingly central aspect to the development of GIs, as the driving force of the national economy, summarized over the years by the term “Dop Economy” which finds in the reform a new equation with Dop Tourism, to seal its extraordinary versatility and conjugation also in the tourism and promotional field of an entire territory and all its unique peculiarities.
La The Tuscan Regional Authority – concludes the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan PGI Extra Virgin Olive Oil – has already started this virtuous path thanks to the Oil tourism law with the precise aim of building positive experiences as well as cultural growth of the consumer. According to data collected by ISMEA, Tuscany's GI production is dominated on a quantitative front by the Tuscan PGI which in recent years represents approximately 95% of the entire certified production of the region. With 8 thousand operators, including producers and processors, out of a total of 23.160 at national level and 7 million registered plants, the Consortium for the Protection of Tuscan PGI is the most important consortium olive-growing reality. The latest report Qualivita-Ismea confirmed its lead with 28 million production value, equal to 30% of the entire value of Italian certified extra virgin olive oil, e 41 million export value equal to 62% of the entire national value with a 25,1% growth rate.
