European foodstuffs win through tradition and quality

Tisková zpráva Press Release Communiqué de presse

Prague, 13 March 2009
 

European foodstuffs win through tradition and quality

Marketing standards that are coherent and simplified, certification schemes and protected designations and indications of foodstuffs – all this is important to consumers and producers alike.

These words could sum up the conclusions of the Quality Policy Conference which took place in Prague on 12 and 13 March. The conference was attended by Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, Czech Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic and a dozen Agriculture Ministers from other EU Member States. 
 
“All the schemes of certified quality, origin and processing methods are functioning well and we shouldn’t abandon them. We need them in order to protect consumers. But we must simplify and clarify them so that consumers get a clear message about what they are buying and producers know what criteria their product has to meet”, stated Minister Gandalovic. According to the Minister, tradition and quality are the principal added values of EU food production and as such must be preserved, thus increasing the competitiveness of EU producers.

At the conference, new Member States expressed their opinion that the concept of traditional specialities guaranteed should be preserved and fully exploited.

All participants in the conference agreed on the great importance of raising awareness of consumers as to the meaning of the different certificates and designations for them. Consumers should also know that the products bearing such labels meet a particular set of criteria and they can rely on their quality. A fixed set of clearly defined rules is a guarantee of stability also for producers.
 
For more information go to the official conference website atwww.qpc.cz.
 

Tereza Dvorácková
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture