Nimisuojapäivä - Name Protection Day 2024

4 JUNE 2024 - HELSINKI

I arrived at the campus of Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences to spend the afternoon at the Nimisuojapäivä 2024 /Name Protection Day/ event and learn more about the EU's name protection scheme while getting familiar with the Finnish products that are already protected.

But what is the name protection scheme? Why is it good for both the consumer and the producer?

The European Community's scheme has been implemented in 1993 with the goal to protect agricultural products and foodstuffs traditionally made in specific areas or distinguishable by unique methods or ingredients.

The registration of the name has many benefits:

• it ensures consistency in origin, raw materials, and manufacturing methods
• it brings added value to the product by proving that the origin, raw materials and manufacturing method are known and -regardless of the manuafturer-, consistent;
• it avoids imitation and misuse of established names.

The registration can only be initiated by groups of producers: except a few special cases, individual producers cannot apply for the protection. The process has two phases:

1. The national review of the application is performed by the Agency for Rural Affairs, followed by the issuance of a decision on the registration of the name. Fees might apply at national level.
2. Then the application is forwarded to the Commission to be reviewed on the EU level, followed by the actual registration of the name. The procedure is free of charge at the EU level and the protection is valid forever.

As a result, over 1300 products - mainly cheeses, fruits, vegetables, meats, and olive oils- have been registered within the EU. While all of these registered names has a high significance, some of them grown to be world-famous, while others are only known on national level - so it is a common misconception that only world-famous products can be protected.

The average applicable price premium to a product with a protected name is somewhere between x2.1 - x2.5 in comparison to other, non-protected products.

After the registration process, there is another important opportunity that is often forgotten by the producers. Protected names can receive marketing support from the EU and can participate in international campaigns in order to promote their products internationally.

There are three schemes for the protection of names (governing refulation:(EU) No 1151/2012 ). Protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) restrict production to traditional geographical areas (geographical indication - GI), while traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) protects traditional methods and ingredients, without geographical limitations. PDO & PGI are also provide internationally recognised intellectual property rights to the protected names.

At present, Finland has 12 food products + 2 alcoholic beverages that has been granted name protection.

During the event, I had the opportunity to try delicious tasting bites prepared by the members of the Finnish national chef team. Naturally, each dish represented one of the protected products.

The Name Protection Day was not only about food tasting but also had a great panel of speakers, covered the following topics:

"Geographical Indications, their added value and advantages"

– Katarina Barathova, European Comission

"Turismi maabrändin käyntikorttina? Matkailun merkitys ruokatuotteiden imagon rakentamisessa ja viestinnässä."

– Hanna Kallioniemi, NLUX

"Erityiseksi todettu - mutta tuoko nimisuojaus lisäarvoa?"

– Annika Koivu, Kaiku

"Mansikalla maineeseen ja nimisuojalla maailmalle - Suonenjoen mansikka nyt ja tulevaisuudessa"

– Pauliina Kovanen, Suonenjoen mansikka

"Alkoholijuomat ja nimisuoja"

– Susanna Heikkinen, Suomen alkoholijuomakauppa r.y. (SAJK) /Association of Alcoholic Beverage Suppliers in Finland/

Minister's speech

– Sari Essayah, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

"Miten Ruotsi hyödyntää EU-nimisuojajärjestelmää"

– Maud Gustafsson-Fahlbeck, Livsmedelsverket /Swedish Food Agency/ & Malena Bathurst, Jordbruksverket /The Swedish Board of Agriculture/

– Kerstin Jürss, Jürss Mejeri, about their Sörmlands Ädel (SMM) cheese

– video greeting of Riina Myrsell, Skedvi Bröd

"Miten rekisteröit erikoislaatuisen tuotteesi? - Suomalaisten elintarvikkeiden hakemustilanne tänään"

– Piritta Sokura, Ruokavirasto /Finnish Food Authority/

"EU-rahoitusta nimisuojatuotteiden markkinointiin"

– Eveliina Viitanen, Ruokavirasto /Finnish Food Authority/

"Strateginen näkökulma nimisuojaan- mitä italialaiset edellä, sitä suomalaiset perässä"

– Marjo Särkkä, Helsingin liopiston Ruralia-Institutti /University of Helsinki's Ruralia Institute/

I had the pleasure of attending this informative PR event organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Suomen maa- ja metsätalousministeriö) of Finland, and the Finnish Food Authority (Ruokavirasto) - special thanks to Jertta de Mazières for coordinating this important event.

You can read more about the scheme for the protection of names for agricultural products and foodstuffs on the Finnish Food Authority's related webpage here + see more insights and photos on my Instagram.

DISCLAImER

The organiser has not set any special criteria and has not initiated any financial/alternative compensation that would require the creation of any written or visual content related to this PR event nor any promotion any products/services in exchange for attendance - but I decided to share my experience anyway because I think you'd enjoy exclusive insights from my recent gastro adventure. Any PR products/services/raffle prizes handed out by the organisers, other participants or exhibitors (if applicable) were not a form of compensation, nor part of an exchange agreement.

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