Japan May Recognize Some PDO and PGI Olive Oils from European Countries

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will con­sider rec­og­niz­ing a list of 17 European food prod­ucts with pro­tected geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tors.

The list includes five types of extra vir­gin olive oils from four European Union coun­tries, along with ham, cheese, sea­son­ing, sausage, bread and hops.

The fol­low­ing olive oils with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) sta­tus were included in the agree­ment:

The min­istry pub­lished the list ear­lier this month and will con­sider pub­lic com­ments on the issue until November. Once the pub­lic com­ment period has closed, the min­istry will hold an expert com­mit­tee before decid­ing on the issue.

Products with PDO or PGI are big busi­ness in Europe. A 2020 study from the European Commission found that prod­ucts with either a PDO or PGI are worth almost €75 bil­lion each year.

Extra vir­gin olive oils make up €277 mil­lion of that total. Currently, there are 133 extra vir­gin olive oils from seven coun­tries with a reg­is­tered PDO or PGI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in the E.U.

A sep­a­rate report from Italy’s Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market (Ismea) found that the value of Italian extra vir­gin olive oils with a pro­tected indi­ca­tor has steadily risen to €144 mil­lion.

The nego­ti­a­tions over pro­tect­ing the geo­graph­i­cal indi­ca­tors come one year after the E.U. and China struck a sim­i­lar deal for the lat­ter to rec­og­nize 24 European extra vir­gin olive oils.

“This deal is very pos­i­tive for Japanese and European farm­ers and will con­tinue to be,” said European Agricultural Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski when the deal was orig­i­nally announced in February.

“These [PDO and PGI] prod­ucts have real added value, reflect­ing authen­tic­ity and qual­ity, while fur­ther reward­ing our farm­ers,” he added.

• USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
• European Commission