An application for the registration of a PAO or PGI must be filed by a group representing the users of the denomination located in the geographical area concerned.

The members of the applicant group of the PAO or PGI must represent at least half of the volume of total production of the product concerned. In addition, the application for the registration of a PGI must be supported by more than 60% of operators who place the end product on the market, and for a PAO, by more than 60% of operators implicated in one of the stages of production defined in the product specification.

An individual can also file an application for registration if he or she is the only one who can do so and if the geographical area concerned or the characteristics of the product concerned are clearly distinct from neighbouring geographical areas or the products that come from there.

An application for the registration of a foreign PAO or a PGI can be filed by a representative group or by the relevant authorities of the country of origin.

You can send your questions concerning appellations of origin and geographical indications for non-agricultural products by email to aop-igpnot shown@ipito make life hard for spam bots.ch