With the release, by the Ministry, of the common logo, Italian mountain producers have now all the normative references for the use of the optional quality term “Mountain product”.
The Italian Ministry for agriculture, food, forestry and tourism has approved the Decree August 2nd2018 for the establishment of the national identification logo for the use of the optional quality term “Mountain product”. The Decree describes the terms of the use of the logo and the technical characteristics for its reproduction.
All mountain operators who already use or want to use the Optional Quality Term “Mountain Product” must apply it on the label of their products. Other brands, symbols or logos that qualify the product on different standards, with references to the mountain, can be used together with the national logo, only if they don’t provide confusion for the consumer.
With this announcement and the simultaneous approval of the national guidelines for controls on the origin of animal feed, Italy has now all the relevant legislation for the use of the Optional Quality Terms.
ERSAF, the Lombardy Agency for agriculture and forestry services, thanks to the experience gained in the recent years, in promoting and developing mountains and their products, strongly believes that the national logo can be a fundamental tool to increasing the value and recognition for consumers of the intrinsic qualities of alpine food heritage. It is now important to promote the knowledge and dissemination of this opportunity, working together with the producers who already use the Optional Quality Term (today, in Lombardy alone, there are almost 30 producers) and all other stakeholders.
This article was written and shared with Euromontana by ERSAF
16 October 2018
