On 20 April, the European Commission published a study on the economic value of EU Quality Schemes .
According to the study – based on 3,207 product names protected across the EU Member States at the end of 2017 – agri-food, wines and spirits products whose names are protected by the European Union as GIs represent a sales value of €74.76 billion. It represents 7% of the total sales value of the European food and drink sector, estimated at €1,101 billion in 2017. Wines represented more than half of this value (€39.4 billion), agricultural products and foodstuffs 35% (€27.34 billion), and spirit drinks 13% (€10.35 billion). In terms of foreign trade, GIs represent 15.5% of the total EU agri-food exports, with the U.S., China and Singapore being the major destinations for EU GI products, accounting for half of the total GIs export value.
To preserve the EU quality agriculture, during these unprecedented times, which entail systemic risks for the EU GIs sector, European policy-makers, both at the national and Union level, should rapidly adopt ambitious measures.
