Protected Designation of Origin

A Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is the name of a region, a specific place, or, in exceptional cases, a country, which is used to designate an agricultural product or foodstuff originating in that region, specific place, or country.

• Its quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to the geographical environment with its natural and human factors.
• Its production, processing, and preparation are carried out in the defined geographical area.

A Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) is the name of a region, a specific place, or, in exceptional cases, a country, which is used to designate an agricultural product or foodstuff originating in that region, specific place, or country.

• It must possess a specific quality, reputation, or other characteristic that can be attributed to that geographical origin.
• Its production, processing, or preparation must take place in the defined geographical area.

While PDO designates the name of a product whose production, processing, and preparation must take place in a specific geographical area, with recognized and proven specialization, PGI indicates the link with the territory in at least one of the stages of production, processing, or preparation. This means that the link with the territory is stronger in the case of PDOs.

Designations of origin for agri-food products can be protected both internationally and at the EU level.

To be eligible for a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), a product must comply with a set of specifications that must include the following elements:

• The name with the designation of origin or geographical indication.
• The description of the product and its main physical, chemical, microbiological, or organoleptic characteristics.
• The delimitation of the geographical area.
• The elements proving that the product originates in that geographical area.
• The elements that justify the link between the product and the geographical environment.
• The description of the method of obtaining the product and, where applicable, the local, consistent, and constant methods, as well as information on packaging carried out in the defined geographical area to safeguard quality, guarantee origin, or ensure control.
• The name and address of the authorities or bodies responsible for verifying compliance with the specifications.
• Any specific labeling rules for the product in question.
• Any requirements that must be met under Community or national provisions.

The application for registration may only be submitted by a group of producers or processors (Regulatory Council) or, exceptionally, by a legal or natural person. In the case of designations covering a cross-border geographical area, several groups may submit a joint application.

The application for registration must include:

• The name and address of the applicant group.
• The specifications.
• A single document setting out the main elements of the specification.
• A description of the link between the product and its geographical origin.

The company must send the application to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food—Food Quality Directorate, which, once it has carried out the appropriate checks, will forward the application for registration in the Community Register to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food for processing.

Once the application for registration has been verified, the competent body will publish an announcement of the corresponding application in the Official State Gazette (BOE), opening a two-month period for any interested party (any third party whose rights or interests may be affected) to file an objection to the registration of the PDO.

If an objection is lodged, the decision shall be taken by the competent body of the autonomous community, which shall notify the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for publication.

Once the decision has been published, the application will be forwarded to the Commission for the procedure to continue. It should be noted that once the application has been forwarded to the European Commission, it is possible that, at the request of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – Food Quality Directorate, transitional national protection for the DO or GI may be granted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, which will then publish the specifications in the BOE.

The International Registration System for Appellations of Origin is governed by the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, which was adopted in 1958 and revised in Stockholm in 1967.

The most recent amendment to the Lisbon Agreement came into force on April 1, 2002.

In order to apply for international registration of a designation of origin, the company must first have that designation protected in its own country.

This is not a designation of origin that can be registered worldwide, but only in the countries that are signatories to the Lisbon Agreement. All countries can be designated by means of a single application.

Currently, 30 countries have signed the Lisbon Agreement: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Slovakia, Spain, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Haiti, Hungary. Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Italy, North Macedonia, Morocco, Mexico, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Republic of Moldova, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Togo, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Designation of Origin (DO) (Finca Luzón 2004, from the Jumilla Designation of Origin (DO)). This is the name of a specific region, district, town, or place that has been administratively recognized to designate wines that meet the following conditions:

• They must have been produced in the specific region, district, locality, or place with grapes from the same area.
• Enjoy high prestige in commercial trade due to their origin.
• Their quality and characteristics are fundamentally or exclusively due to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors.
• In addition, at least five years must have elapsed since its recognition as a quality wine with geographical indication.

Qualified Designation of Origin (DOCa) (Marqués de Arienzo, from the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin). In addition to the requirements for designations of origin, it must meet the following requirements:

• At least ten years must have elapsed since its recognition as a Designation of Origin.
• All wine must be bottled and marketed from wineries registered and located in the defined geographical area.
• It must have a system in place to control quality and quantity from production to marketing, including physical, chemical, and organoleptic controls on homogeneous batches of limited volume.
• The coexistence in the same winery of wines without DOCa rights is prohibited, except for wines from qualified estates located in its territory.
• There must be a cartographic delimitation, by municipality, of the land suitable for producing wines entitled to the DOCa.

Pago wines (Vega Sicilia): these are wines originating from a “pago”. This is understood to be a rural area or site with its own soil and microclimate characteristics that differentiate and distinguish it from others in its surroundings, known by a name traditionally and notoriously linked to the cultivation of vineyards from which wines with unique characteristics and qualities are obtained, and whose maximum size will be limited by regulation by the competent administration, in accordance with the characteristics of each autonomous community, and may not be equal to or greater than that of any of the municipal districts in whose territory or territories, if there is more than one, it is located.

• A well-known link with the cultivation of the vineyards is understood to exist when the name of the vineyard has been used regularly in the market to identify the wines produced there for a minimum period of five years. If the entire vineyard is included within the territorial scope of a qualified designation of origin, it may be given the name “qualified vineyard,” and the wines produced there will be called “from a qualified vineyard,” provided that it can be proven that it meets the requirements for wines with a qualified designation of origin and is registered as such.

WineTable wine entitled to the traditional designation “Vino de la Tierra” (Bonjorne 2004, vino de la Tierra de Castilla): this is a wine that has been defined, taking into account certain environmental and cultivation conditions
and cultivation conditions that may give the wines specific characteristics.

Quality wines with geographical indication: wine produced and made in a specific region, district, locality, or place with grapes from the same area, whose quality, reputation, or characteristics are due to the geographical environment, the human factor, or both, in terms of grape production, wine making, or aging.

• VLCPRD: quality liqueur wines produced in specified regions.
• Vecprd: quality sparkling wines produced in specified regions.
• Vacprd: quality sparkling wines produced in specified regions.
• Vcprd: all other types of wine.

One of the fundamental requirements is that the applicant must prove their professional, economic, and territorial connection to the wine for which protection is sought.

Regarding the name:

• Proof that the geographical name is sufficiently precise and related to the defined geographical area.
• Certification from the Central Commercial Registry and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office that there are no prior rights to that name.

Regarding the wines:

• Delimitation of the geographical area based on natural and human factors, where applicable, and in particular on soil and climate characteristics.
• Indication of the authorized grape varieties and cultivation techniques for grape production.
• Characteristics and conditions of wine production.
• Production methods.
• Description of the wines.
• Methods of presentation and marketing, as well as the main markets or other elements that justify the reputation of the wines, for v.c.p.r.d.

Law 24/2003, of July 10, on Vineyards and Wine, defines the so-called “System for the Protection of the Origin and Quality of Wines,” which is structured into the following levels: Within table wines:

• Quality wines with geographical indication.
• Wines with a designation of origin (DO).
• Wines with a qualified designation of origin (DOCa).
• Pagos wines.

The designation “cava” is considered a DO for all intents and purposes.