The raspberry from Arilje is widely known, and the carrot from Begeč village has recently started to conquer the world. The cabbage from Futog has been grown in Vojvodina since the 16th century, and there is no good celebration without kulen and cheese from Zlatar.
The gastronomic heritage of every area of our country is part of its identity and tradition. In order to preserve the cultural and historical values, as well as the knowledge inherited from the ancestors, it is important to protect them, but also to mark them.
In this, we can be helped by the designation of geographical origin, which guarantees that the product was made from a specific raw material, according to a specific recipe and in a specific area. This protects the name of the product, because the label represents a voluntary quality standard at all levels.
And in order for consumers to recognize such products on the market, it is necessary to use a national trademark, i.e. a logo that will be recognizable to citizens.
“This also means the potential for export to the European Union market, since such traditional products from Serbia would have the same quality label as original Greek feta, Italian Parmesan, Spanish Iberico prosciutto or Pag cheese,” says Vuk Vujacic from the Original Serbia association.
Original Serbia is a civil society organization that gathers associations of producers of products with geographical origin and advocates solutions that will lead to the regulation of this area. Their active efforts are directed, among other things, towards the regulation of the national logo. For all this, they received support through the Dialogue of Changes project, whose goal is to establish a dialogue between the civil and public sectors, and which is supported by the European Union.
The certificate should be reserved only for those producers who follow the prescribed procedures, and they should be adequately legally protected, according to the association Original Serbia. Thus, producers are protected from unfair competition, and consumers can be sure that they have a quality product.
In addition, the regulation contributes to the economic sustainability of rural areas, as well as the preservation of Serbian cultural heritage.
The National Trademark, Original Serbia and the “Dialogue of Change” project represent just one – very tasty, we will add – example of organizing civil society in the field of public policies. The European Union is here to enable the citizens of Serbia to actively deal with all topics that are important to them and build a society according to their own standards.
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