What PDO and PGI mean for olive oil

PDO and PGI are names protected by EU law. They say where an olive oil comes from and which written rules it was made under. They are not a quality grade.

What PDO and PGI are

A protected designation of origin (PDO) is a name for a product that comes from a specific place or region, whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to that place's natural and human factors, and whose production steps all take place in the defined area ^[1].

A protected geographical indication (PGI) is a name for a product that comes from a specific place, region or country, whose given quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to that origin, and of which at least one production step takes place in the defined area ^[2].

Two olive oils from Puglia show the difference in scale. Dauno is a PDO ^[3] whose olives come from the olive-growing land of the province of Foggia ^[4]. Olio di Puglia is a PGI ^[5] whose area is the whole region of Puglia ^[6].

A name can also cross a border. Istra is one PDO for Croatia and Slovenia ^[7]: Croatia applied first, and after an agreement with Slovenia the area was extended to the Slovenian part of the Istrian peninsula, making it a joint application of both countries ^[8].

Which is better?

Neither. The two terms describe how a product is tied to its place, not how good it is.

The law treats them alike once they are registered. For most of the regulation, "geographical indications" covers both PDOs and PGIs ^[9], and every geographical indication in the EU register gets the same protection ^[10]. What differs is the link they need: for a PDO, all production steps in the area and a quality due to its geographical environment; for a PGI, at least one step in the area, and a link that may rest on reputation ^[11].

Those are minimums. A PGI's own rules can ask for more: Olio di Puglia's specification requires cultivation, harvesting and milling all to take place in the area ^[12]. So read the specification, not just the label.

What a designation guarantees

The place. Every specification defines the geographical area ^[13].

The rules in the specification. A specification describes the product, including where relevant the plant varieties used, and the method of obtaining it ^[14]. For olive oil that often means cultivars. Dauno must always carry one of four geographical mentions, among them Gargano ^[15]; Dauno with the mention Gargano is reserved for extra virgin olive oil from groves where the Ogliarola Garganica variety makes up at least 70 %, with other varieties up to 30 % ^[16].

Who may use the name. Any operator whose product complies with the specification may use a registered name ^[17]. The EU symbols and the words "PDO" and "PGI" may be used only for products made in line with the specification, or for information and educational purposes where that is not likely to mislead the consumer ^[18].

Controls. Producers must run their own controls before the product is placed on the market ^[19], and for a product from the EU, compliance with the specification is also verified before it is placed on the market, by competent authorities or by the bodies or persons they delegate control tasks to ^[20].

Protection of the name. A registered name is protected against misuse, imitation and evocation, even when the true origin is stated or the name comes with words such as "style" or "type" ^[21].

What a designation does not tell you

• A quality ranking. A PDO is not a better oil than a PGI, and one PDO is not ranked against another. The law sets rules and a link to a place; it does not grade products.
• The state of one bottle. Compliance is checked against the specification, by the producer and by the control body, before the product is placed on the market ^[22]. The designation says nothing about how a particular bottle was stored or handled afterwards.
• Freshness. A designation alone doesn't promise a fresh oil. Some specifications do set rules on it: Olio di Puglia's requires the harvest season on the label, and a best-before date no more than 20 months after packaging ^[23]. Others don't, so look at the one for the oil in hand.
• Anything the specification doesn't say. A designation covers what its specification covers. Registration is also without prejudice to the other EU rules producers must follow, such as those on placing products on the market and on food information ^[24].

Applications are not registrations

A name becomes a PDO or PGI only when it is registered. An application is examined by the Commission ^[25], which then, if it considers the conditions met, publishes its single document so that others can object ^[26]; objections can be lodged within three months of that publication ^[27]. Without an admissible objection, the Commission registers the name by an implementing act ^[28]. The EU symbols and the words "PDO" and "PGI" may appear on the label only after the act registering the name has been published ^[29].

An example of an application. Ekstra djevičansko maslinovo ulje Hercegovine, from Bosnia and Herzegovina, is in the EU register as an application, with the status "applied" ^[30]. It is not a registered EU PDO. On veriolio its map marker is the application ring, never an EU symbol, and its profile lists the EU application apart from its national registration (below).

Other routes to protection

• National protection alongside the EU. The same name can be protected nationally as well. Hercegovina is registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a designation of origin by the country's Food Safety Agency ^[31], alongside its EU application ^[30]. Within the EU, a member state may protect a name nationally for a transition period from the day its application reaches the Commission ^[32], until the Commission's decision on the application takes effect or the application is withdrawn ^[33].
• International agreements. Names from countries outside the EU that are protected under an international agreement with the EU may be entered in the EU register; unless the agreement identifies them as designations of origin, they are entered as PGIs ^[34].
• The Geneva Act. The EU has joined WIPO's Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, and Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 governs how it acts under it ^[35].

Where the evidence is

The EU keeps a public register of geographical indications ^[36], and anyone can download an official extract of a registration free of charge ^[37].

On veriolio, every legal fact on an origin's profile (its status, scheme, area and cultivars) shows the register record or legal document it comes from, quoted in the document's own language where there is a quote. Applications are shown apart from registered names. Our coverage statement says how far the research has got: an olive oil missing from veriolio is not research showing that it isn't protected.