Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
852. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of efforts to register Achill Island sea salt as a protected designation of origin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4730/22]
View answerA Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) emphasises the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. GI status requires products to be produced in accordance with a particular technical specification and producers are required to meet that specification. This is in addition to the legal requirements applying to food production in EU Member States.
The PGI application for “Achill Island Sea Salt” was submitted to the EU Commission in November 2020.
As part of its detailed scrutiny of the application, the European Commission raised a number of queries with my Department in April 2021 which, in consultation with the applicant’s representative, are still being examined.
If the queries received can be addressed to the Commission’s satisfaction, the next stage of the process will be publication of an EU opposition procedure which is a consultation process allowing interested parties from other EU Member States or third countries.
The Department will continue to engage with the applicant and the European Commission on this application with a view to finalizing the details.
