The Mozzarella di Bufala Campana protection Consortium, the U. S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) have recently signed a historic agreement that is expected to pave the way for a new dialogue on the protection of Geographical Indications in the United States – as well as in the global market. The agreement provides support for the protection of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (buffalo mozzarella).
The deal has been signed in Caserta by the president of the Consortium, Domenico Raimondo, and CCFN executive director (and USDEC senior vice-president) Jaime Castaneda. The agreement recognizes the distinctive character of the name Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO and its territory of production.
PROTECTING GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
The United States is the largest non-EU export market for Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, making this agreement a significant step towards protecting both authentic GIs and the use of common food names. In addition, Raimondo and Castaneda sent a joint letter to the European Commission and to the U.S. and Italian governments asking that they honor the agreement and support efforts to protect both the name Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and the free use of the term mozzarella in markets across the globe.
THE CONSEQUENCES FOR ITALY’S DAIRY SECTOR
This is a precedent that the president of the Consortium, Domenico Raimondo, would like to see extended to the whole Italian dairy sector which boasts great PDO products. “This agreement is the first result of a collaboration that we hope will lead to the resolution of long-standing problems – said Raimondo -. We have launched a message to politicians: this dialogue is the starting point for relaxing relations. Only in this way can we avoid protectionist policies.”
MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA PDO: THE DATA
Driving the local economy, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO is increasingly projected on an international scale. In fact, it has succeeded in two things: increasing production (+40% of production volumes in 10 years) and exports (it now represents a third of total production, with a growth of 9% in value in just one year). Its benefits go beyond the economic aspect, giving added value to a supply chain that characterizes a territory and a culture. In the first six months of 2019, 24,476 tons of buffalo mozzarella PDO were produced (+1.8% compared to the same period in 2018), from the processing of 138,933 tons of milk (+2% on a trend basis).
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