Italy and Slovenia awaits for European Commission to settle the balsamic vinegar dispute

Published 2021년 2월 26일

Tridge summary

Italy is expressing strong opposition to Slovenia's efforts to standardize the production of balsamic vinegar, arguing that it could lead to the mislabeling of wine vinegar as balsamic vinegar, a product with protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) statuses in the European Union. The European Commission has been notified of Slovenia's draft rules and is expected to make a decision on the issue by March 3. The situation is seen as a test for Italy's new agriculture minister, Stefano Patuanelli, and has been highlighted by Italian MEP Paolo De Castro, who has called on the Commission to provide clarity on the issue. The Commission's response suggests that there may be a way to protect balsamic vinegar through the concept of 'evocation,' indicating that the issue may not be fully resolved but that a potential solution is being considered.

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Original content

Italy is up in arms, trying to defend the world-famous balsamic vinegar of Modena from an attempt to ‘standardise’ its production made by Slovenia, and the European Commission appears to have until 3 March to settle the issue. Slovenia notified the European Commission in early December of some national draft rules on the quality of vinegar and diluted acetic acid. The main goal of this national technical standard is to ensure that any hashing of wine vinegar can be sold as balsamic vinegar, which is recognised as an Italian food speciality. The European Union has granted balsamic vinegar produced in the Italian city of Modena the protected designation of origin (PDO) and the protected geographical indications (PDI) statuses against counterfeits. However, a 2019 ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that such protection is not extended to its non-geographical components, namely ‘aceto’ and ‘balsamico’. The Luxembourg-based court was asked to give a ruling upon ...

Source: Euractiv