Quality and origin-based labels – Emmanuel Hidier and Emilie VandeCandelaere
Farmers often find themselves facing a lack of knowledge, capacity or resources to create their own brands and, as a result, their products remain largely anonymous outside of local markets and fail to generate the value that they deserve. Under the FAO/EBRD cooperation, TCI is supporting the development of quality and origin-based labels – mainly in the form of Geographical Indications (GIs) – as a tool to increase producers’ incomes. GIs are a sign used on high-quality agrifood products which have specific features that can be linked to their geographical origin, due to the characteristics of the local terroir or traditions. GIs have emerged as an important instrument of intellectual property protection and have become part of rural development policies in many countries, with approximately 10,000 GIs registered worldwide and an estimated annual trade value of USD 50 billion. The EBRD and FAO are working at different levels to develop these marketing labels.