If your product has a specific geographical origin and a reputation - a given quality or other characteristics of a product essentially attributable to it - you can protect it with a geographical indication (GI).
Geographical indications protect:
- agricultural products and foodstuffs
- spirit drinks
- wines
- aromatised wines
Your rights under geographical indication protection
Geographical indications protect your products against misuse or imitation of the registered name and guarantee the true origin of the product to your customers. These rules ensure you and all producers in the given geographical area have collective rights over the product, as long as certain requirements are met.
Quality schemes explained
Under EU quality schemes, the names of products for which an intrinsic link exists between product qualities or characteristics and geographical origin are protected. There are:
- Protected designations of origin (PDO) for agricultural products and foodstuffs, and wines
- Protected geographical indications (PGI) for agricultural products and foodstuffs and wines
- Geographical indications (GI) for spirit drinks and aromatised wines
Find out more about EU quality schemes.
Consult the list of product names that have either applied for protection or that are now registered as a PDO, PGI or GI.
How to register for Geographical Indication protection
See how to register the name of your product under an EU quality scheme.