The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has said he would “fully support” any applications for registration of Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) status for Irish dairy products.
Just last year Irish Grass Fed Beef secured PGI status from the European Union and DAFM is currently examining a submission seeking to secure PGI status for Irish boxty.
A few weeks ago the first Irish Grass Fed Beef PGI products went on sale on the shelves of an Italian supermarket in Milan for the first time.
In a parliamentary question the Fianna Fáil TD for Clare, Cathal Crowe, asked Minister Charlie McConalogue if would also consider seeking PGI status from the EU for Irish dairy products.
Minister McConalogue told him that dairy producers or producer groups can submit a PGI application for their product to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The minister said he would “encourage any producer of beef or dairy products or indeed any food products” to contact DAFM for information on applying for a geographical indication if they believe they have a product that would qualify for PGI or protected designation of origin (PDO) status.
But he also warned that the process to secure a PGI is not easy.
“Under current European Commission rules, applications for registration of food product names as PGI may only be submitted by groups who work with the products concerned.
“It takes an enormous effort to get a PGI application over the line successfully,” the minister added.
According to the commission a PGI “emphasises the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin”.
Minister McConalogue
Minister McConalogue highlighted to Deputy Crowe that the PGI for Irish Grass Fed Beef was the “culmination of five year’s work undertaken to ensure that the application could withstand the scrutiny required under EU rules”.
“This PGI helps to symbolise the farm to fork credentials of our Irish beef products and the work that our farmers put into producing top quality food,” Minister McConalogue added.
He said in relation to other PGIs, DAFM recently launched a PGI national opposition procedure for an application for a PGI for Certified Irish Angus Beef which was submitted for the Certified Irish Angus Producer group.
“My Department is examining the submissions received and will shortly engage with the applicant with a view to establishing next steps,” he added.
Aside from Irish Grass Fed Beef other food and drink products which have secured PGI status, include the Waterford Blaa, Sneem Black Pudding, Connemara Hill Lamb and Irish whiskey.