Colombian coffee on Wednesday became the first foreign product to be granted legal protection measures in Switzerland.
“It is important for us that we are recognized in Switzerland, because it is the World’s commercial center for coffee,” Luis Fernando Samper, the communications chief of the
The trade union, FCN, secured the Swiss certificate of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for Colombian coffee, which will enable it to be marketed as a unique product. The status will also allow Colombia’s 560,000 coffee-producing families to benefit from legal protection against companies who exploit Colombian coffee’s reputation by selling non-authentic goods under the same name.
“We welcome Coffee from Colombia to the 27 Protected Geographic Indications that have been recognized and protected in Switzerland. The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation answered all of our questions very professionally,” Paolo Degiorgi, a representative of the Swiss government’s Quality and Promotion Unit of the Federal Office for Agriculture, was quoted in Market Wired.
To gain PGI recognition, products must originate from a specific area or country and use traditional manufacturing techniques. It took the FNC, four years to gain PGI status in Switzerland, as the process is rigorous and a number of strict requirements must be fulfilled.