Piadina Romagnola PGI is now super protected in the Canadian market. This is thanks to its inclusion in the list of Protected Geographical Indications recognized by the Trademarks Act, in line with the CETA agreement between the European Union and the great North American state. The agreement eliminates duties and defends agri-food products from the risk of counterfeiting (e.g. Italian sounding).
From now on, Piadina Romagnola PGI will be present in the Canadian market as a non-imitable product, respecting the four typical ingredients of tradition (flour, water, salt, and fat or lard or oil), recognized and certified by the same competent bodies of Canada.
The promoter of this initiative was the Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola PGI, with the technical support of Origin Italia association.
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FOILED COUNTERFEIT
A strong impetus in this direction had come due to an attempt to counterfeit Piadina that occurred in Canada in September 2018. On that occasion, an application had been filed by a private individual at the Canadian Trademark Registry. The goal was to register the “LA PIADINA” trademark to distinguish Italian-style sandwiches and food services. If the trademark had been registered, Piadina in Canadian territory would have been the exclusive property of the applicant.
Against this hypothesis, the Consortium had decided to fight the application through appropriate legal channels, until the favorable epilogue: the cancellation of the application for registration by the Canadian Industrial Property Office (May 2019).
“That victory gave us the impetus to take a decisive step in the direction of protecting the product with the request for inclusion in the list of Geographical Indications protected and safeguarded in Canada” – explains Alfio Biagini, President of the Consortium. “Canada is in fact an important market for Piadina Romagnola”.
Discover more about Italian bread and piadina category on Italiafood.net magazine – Issue N.1 2022
Here’s a caption of the PGI Piadina Romagnola Educational.
