Publication of Application for PDO for “Achill Island Sea Salt”

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of

21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

Publication of the application for registration of the name

“Achill Island Sea Salt” as a Protected Designation of Origin

Following the National Opposition Procedure and scrutiny of the application for a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for “Achill Island Sea Salt”, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has determined that the application is in order to be submitted to the European Commission for evaluation

A link to the Regulation is embedded below for your information and convenience.

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

Following the National Opposition Procedure and scrutiny of the application for a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for “Achill Island Sea Salt”, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine submitted the application to the European Commission for evaluation. Following receipt of technical queries from the European Commission DAFM submitted revised Single and Specification Documents on 24 February 2023. Following scrutiny by the European Commission the revised PDO application was published for the 3 month ‘EU/third country opposition procedure’/consultation on 27 July 2023. The Single Document and Specification can be found below.

Any comments or queries may be sent to: GeographicalIndications@agriculture.gov.ie

Freedom of Information Act

Your attention is drawn to the fact that information provided to the Department may be disclosed in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2014. Therefore, should you consider that any information you provide is commercially sensitive, please identify same, and specify the reason for its sensitivity. The Department will consult with you regarding information identified by you as sensitive before deciding on any Freedom of Information request. Any personal information, which you volunteer to this Department, will be treated with the highest standards of security and confidentiality, strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003.

General Data Protection Regulations

In compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) this Department will not retain, store or keep any personal data supplied beyond the necessary timeframe required. All personal data will be destroyed in accordance with the GDPR Regulations.

Food Industry Development Division

8th December 2020

Note for Editors:

Geographical Indications are a type of intellectual property right, protecting food product names which are linked to a particular territory or to a production method. The EU’s Geographical Indications scheme is beneficial to producers as it allows for the identification and protection of names of specific agricultural products which have particular value adding characteristics linked to their place of origin. GI recognition enables consumers to trust and distinguish quality products while also helping producers to market their products.

The governing EU Regulation No. 1151/2012 provides that if, after assessment of any opposition received, the Member State considers that the requirements of the Regulation are met, it may take a favourable decision and lodge an application with the Commission. The application may be lodged while the appeal process is on-going.

The EU Commission will scrutinise the application that it receives in order to check that it is justified and that it meets the conditions of the respective scheme. This scrutiny period can last up to 6 months or longer.

An opposition procedure will be provided at EU level whereby oppositions to the application may be lodged by a Member State (other than Ireland) or third country.

ENDS