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Guaranteeing quality to consumers and a fair price for farmers are the twin aims of the new Council Regulation on quality schemes for agricultural products that enters into force.
Based on the Commission's 2010 proposal, it provides consumers with information on products' characteristics, protects product names from misuse and imitation and encourages the diversification of agricultural production.
The new regulation simplifies several quality schemes and creates a more robust framework for the protection and promotion of quality agricultural products. Key elements include : more coherence and clarity, reinforcing the existing scheme for protected designations of origin and geographical indications (PDOs and PGIs), among others with faster registration procedures; simplifying and strengthening the traditional specialities guaranteed scheme, and creating the optional quality term "mountain product"
Wednesday January 3, 2013/ European Commission/ European Union.
http://europa.eu
