The products protected by protected designations of origin, excellence among the typical geographical indications, represent a wealth to be protected and valorized by the European Union, which regulated them in 1996, but they can represent a model for all countries, to be defined with shared principles and rules.

Geographical indications can therefore increasingly be a tool for international cooperation, in a framework of agreements that on September 29 will be at the center of the conference promoted by Origin Italia with Fondazione Qualivita and oriGin in Ortigia, the island in front of Syracuse, within the G7 Agriculture, one of the most important international stages.

The Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano, the most consumed protected designation of origin cheese in the world, will also participate in the week of debates and meetings, with over 5.4 million forms produced in 2023 and exports approaching 50% of total sales.

“We achieved this result because clear international agreements to adopt effective and common protections have allowed us to enhance the quality of Grana Padano", explains Renato Zaghini , president of the Protection Consortium. "Consumers on foreign markets choose the original product and not the copy, because they appreciate and consider the quality-price ratio convenient, despite the fierce and ever-massive competition from Italian Sounding. The agreement between the EU and the Ottawa government has brought Canada into the top ten of consumer countries. The similar one with Japan is increasing consumption of Grana Padano. The revocation decided by President Biden of the protectionist measures introduced by the Trump administration has brought the United States back to the podium of the most important importers of Grana Padano Dop".

A market based on transparency also allows investments for increasingly green production. “With the new three-year production plan we will aim to grow in sustainability, investing in reducing the environmental footprint that already sees us at the forefront in research and resources,” explains Zaghini . “And in a market that allows us to be competitive we will find the resources to do so.”

But the G7 Agriculture will also have to take a position on the issue of duties, which the Grana Padano Consortium has forcefully brought to the attention of Italian and European institutions. “Today the main danger comes from China, which threatens to hit European production, with limited damage to our exports, but which is still penalized,” underlines Stefano Berni , general manager of the Consortium. “Therefore we want to denounce to the G7 how limitations to free trade are always a danger for the production system, because they condition and direct the markets in an artificial and heavy way. We must not forget the price paid by Grana Padano producers who in 2014, in retaliation for the duties of the West after the invasion of Crimea, completely lost the Russian market, which had reached 50 thousand forms thanks to significant investments.” At the G7, the Grana Padano Consortium with the entire PDO system will therefore reiterate its no to “duty wars.”

“We are producers alongside consumers from all over the world,” concluded Berni , “so that their spending capacity is not compromised by “taxes” imposed by politics, destined to weigh on the costs necessary to guarantee the highest quality of products.” The nine days of work in Ortigia will offer guests the opportunity to taste Grana Padano Dop and learn about its supply chain, with various corners for tasting and masterclasses on the product organized in the spaces of Origin, Regione Lombardia, Afidop Area Cheese Bar and Regione Veneto.