Signs of identification of origin and quality and others identifiers

When shopping for food, all consumers come across agricultural products bearing a Signe d'Identification de la Qualité et de l'Origine (SIQO), often mistakenly referred to as labels: Appellation d'Origine Protégée/Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOP/AOC), Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP), Indication Géographique (IG), Label Rouge (LR), Spécialité Traditionnelle Garantie (STG), Agriculture Biologique (AB).

These official signs are recognized by the public authorities on the recommendation of the Institut national de l'origine et de la qualité (INAO), which then ensures their management and protection [F 1166] .

The procedure for recognizing these signs requires INAO to ensure that the basic principles characterizing each SIQO are respected:

• Geographical indications (AOC/AOP, IGP, IG) are linked to the origin of products and reflect the impact of the environment and know-how used by producers on the characteristics of these products;

• other SIQO certify superior quality for LR products, environmental quality and animal welfare for products benefiting from organic farming, or a specific and traditional production method for STG products.

By contributing to better market segmentation while promoting know-how and production areas, SIQOs also provide consumers with quality products and official guarantees of production methods and product origin.

This article gives an overview of SIQOs and their foundations, as well as providing additional information on other identifiers.

A table of acronyms is provided at the end of the article.