Law on Denominations of Origin and Protected Geographical In

Dołączył: 02 Gru 2023 Posty: 1

Pain is characterized by being a country with great cultural and historical diversity, which is reflected in the recognition of a large number of foods with their own quality characteristics due to the geographical area in which they have originated, fundamentally, in the form of Protected Designations of Origin. (DOP) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI). The PDO and PGI can be considered as an element that favors the differentiation of production, contributing to the increase in the competitiveness of the agri-food industries, fundamentally through the valorization of these products by the consumer, being, at the same time, an instrument backbone in the development and sustainability of rural fabrics and establishing itself as a sign of promotion of the image of Spanish products abroad. The first legal framework for the protection of Spanish Denominations of Origin dates back to 1932, at which time our country was provided with the first legal framework on the matter, the Statute of Wine, by Decree of September 8, later elevated to Law by the May 26, 1933 and which was aimed solely at wine. Subsequently, the national framework was modified through Law 25/1970, of December 2, on the Statute of Vine, Wine and Alcohols, and which extended the model to other foods. Finally, Law 24/2003, of July 10, on Vineyards and Wine, was the last specific national legislation for wine. Similarly, it is worth mentioning the ruling of the Constitutional Court (STC 112/1995) in which, to make a clear distribution of powers between the Autonomous Communities and the State in this matter, it establishes that "The State can, without a doubt, dictate Valid regulations – basic or full as appropriate – where the Autonomous Communities do not have exclusive jurisdiction. And it can also organize the designations of origin that cover the territory of several Autonomous Communities, an action that logically can only be carried out by the general bodies of the State. But the regulatory evolution in the matter has not been exclusive to Spain, in such a way that the European Union has been providing itself since the 1990s, progressively and in constant evolution, with a legal framework that covers the recognition, protection and control of PDOs and PGIs from a harmonized approach and with common elements for all Member States. This approach to European regulations, where The role of the European Commission has become key and protagonist, it has gone beyond the approach established in national regulations.

Specifically, following the review carried out by the European Union on regulated voluntary schemes, the Best Practice Guidelines applicable to voluntary certification schemes for agricultural and food products and, above all, Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural and food products, have come to establish the legal framework in which both the new types of voluntary labeling and the traditional intellectual property rights that link quality to the geographical origin of the products through the figures of PDO and PGI must be framed, giving stability at the European level, through the precepts mainly of Title II of the aforementioned Regulation (EU), to these figures today also protected at a global level by the rules of the World Trade Organization and, in particular, by the Agreement on the Aspects of Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) approved at the Marrakesh Conference on April 15, 1994, which ended the Uruguay Round and created the World Trade Organization itself. For all these reasons, given the growing intensity in the regulation of the content of these intellectual property rights, especially by the European Union, the fifth additional provision establishes the indisputable WhatsApp Number List prevalence of said European Union Law when it currently regulates or does so in the future aspects, whatever they may be, of these intellectual property rights without leaving areas or margins of appreciation to the Member States. In defending the common model, the involvement of operators is necessary, particularly through entities in charge of managing PDOs and PGIs, which must have their own legal personality independent of the Administration, although with a direct relationship of collaboration. In this sense, the adequate and necessary collaboration in the management of the protection figure can lead to the attribution of public functions in the management entities, which is why the text contemplates the creation of public law corporations. In fact, in the law itself, nine public law corporations are created for as many Regulatory Councils that, at the time of adoption of this law, are considered deconcentrated bodies of the Administration and that have expressly requested access to this legal formula. II Likewise, to guarantee the proper functioning of the system, the recognition, management and defense of the protection figure is not enough; adequate and truthful information to the consumer must also be ensured, as well as respect for fair competition between operators.

A reflection of this need is the inclusion of specific controls on PDO and PGI in the general community regulatory framework of official controls on feed and food. The new precepts established by European regulations on official control and by the specific one for PDOs and PGI, Together with the multiple changes that the agri-food sector has experienced, they motivate the need to establish a new and single national regulatory framework. Therefore, the object of this law is the establishment of a new legal regime, complementary to European regulation, applicable to PDOs and PGIs, whose territorial scope extends to more than one autonomous community and clearly delimits the functions of its management entities. and the exercise of official control by the competent authority. In this regulation, the part relating to the control of compliance with the requirements established on a mandatory basis for the marketing of the covered products is essential, as it constitutes an essential element to guarantee the legal security of the different operators, and to not disappoint the expectations of the consumers. For these purposes, the law regulates and develops the powers that the legal system attributes within the General Administration of the State to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment in relation to agricultural and food products covered by a PDO or PGI, in particular those relating to official controls, without prejudice to the powers that other ministerial Departments may have. The Food Information and Control Agency, an autonomous body of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, will carry out official control functions before the marketing of PDOs and IGP whose territorial scope extends to more than one autonomous community. To assign these new functions, it is necessary to modify Law 12/2013, of August 2, on measures to improve the functioning of the food chain, which creates the Food Information and Control Agency in order to provide it with new purposes and create a fee that will be required for the provision of its inspection and control functions and for which European regulations enable.