TITLE I

This Regulation aims to help producers of agricultural products and foodstuffs to communicate the product characteristics and farming attributes of those products and foodstuffs to buyers and consumers, thereby ensuring: fair competition for farmers and producers of agricultural products and foodstuffs having value-adding characteristics and attributes; the availability to consumers of reliable information pertaining to such products; respect for intellectual property rights; and the integrity of the internal market. The measures set out in this Regulation are intended to support agricultural and processing activities and the farming systems associated with high quality products, thereby contributing to the achievement of rural development policy objectives. This Regulation establishes quality schemes which provide the basis for the identification and, where appropriate, protection of names and terms that, in particular, indicate or describe agricultural products with: value-adding characteristics; or value-adding attributes as a result of the farming or processing methods used in their production, or of the place of their production or marketing. This Regulation covers agricultural products intended for human consumption listed in Annex I to the Treaty and other agricultural products and foodstuffs listed in Annex I to this Regulation. In order to take into account international commitments or new production methods or material, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 56, supplementing the list of products set out in Annex I to this Regulation. Such products shall be closely linked to agricultural products or to the rural economy. This Regulation shall not apply to spirit drinks, aromatised wines or grapevine products as defined in Annex XIb to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, with the exception of wine-vinegars. This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to other specific Union provisions relating to the placing of products on the market and, in particular, to the single common organisation of the markets, and to food labelling. Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37. shall not apply to the quality schemes established by this Regulation. For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply: ‘quality schemes’ means the schemes established under Titles II, III and IV; ‘group’ means any association, irrespective of its legal form, mainly composed of producers or processors working with the same product; ‘traditional’ means proven usage on the domestic market for a period that allows transmission between generations; this period is to be at least 30 years; ‘labelling’ means any words, particulars, trade marks, brand name, pictorial matter or symbol relating to a foodstuff and placed on any packaging, document, notice, label, ring or collar accompanying or referring to such foodstuff; ‘specific character’ in relation to a product means the characteristic production attributes which distinguish a product clearly from other similar products of the same category; ‘generic terms ’ means the names of products which, although relating to the place, region or country where the product was originally produced or marketed, have become the common name of a product in the Union; ‘production step’ means production, processing or preparation; ‘processed products’ means foodstuffs resulting from the processing of unprocessed products. Processed products may contain ingredients that are necessary for their manufacture or to give them specific characteristics.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.