Definition: Swiss AOC-IGP association

The association is funded by the sectors that have applied for AOC and IGP registration, as well as by passive members who support its activities. Some of its promotional activities are co-financed by the Swiss Confederation, in accordance with the ordinance on sales promotion under the Agriculture Act.
Activities:
The activities of the Swiss AOC-IGP Association aim to raise awareness of the concepts of AOC and IGP among Swiss citizens and to provide promotional material to inter-professional organisations, schools and interested institutions.
Defence of AOC and PGI policy:
The Swiss AOC-IGP Association advocates for the effective implementation of Swiss AOC and IGP policy.
The Association is committed to establishing a genuine system for combating fraud in Switzerland in order to combat imitations and misleading uses of protected designations and indications.
The Association also wants the protection granted to designations of origin to be absolute. The amendment to the Agriculture Act provides that a trademark registered in good faith before 1996 (or before the registration of the designation) may continue to be used even if it contains the name of a protected designation. This possible coexistence of a protected designation with a trademark containing the designation but not complying with the specifications is unacceptable. The Association requests that the Agriculture Act not allow such cases.
The Association's official website provides all the information on promotional methods:
Fairs,
Advertising,
Distribution of an informative advertising page on AOC and IGP labels in various magazines,
Advertising campaign for AOC and IGP products in Switzerland,
PR-Media,
Press conference during the appointment of AOC-IGP ambassadors at the Salon des Goûts et Terroirs in Bulle,
Regular press releases,
Inclusion of the AOC-IGP message in consumer television and radio programmes,
Information and promotion,
Specific fact sheets for AOC-IGP products,
Courses and lectures at agricultural colleges and universities,
Courses and lectures for consumers,
Sending promotional material to interested schools,
AOC and IGP competitions,
For members: dissemination of the AOC or IGP message at events and tastings, prize draws,
Tasting of AOC-IGP products at various regional events,
Tradition et Terroir,
AOC-IGP books,
Gastronomy and recipes.

Defending products bearing this label. AOC is the abbreviation for "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" (Controlled Designation of Origin). IGP is the abbreviation for "Indication Géographique Protégée" (Protected Geographical Indication). AOC and IGP are two official quality labels that can be used on agricultural products rooted in a terroir that gives them their name and quality. As this name refers to a region (geographical designation) or is closely linked to it (traditional designation), it is important that it is only used for products that meet three main conditions:

Origin: The products must actually come from the region whose name they bear.

Link to the terroir and tradition: The products have characteristics influenced by this region and the traditions that take place there.

Production methods that respect the product: AOCs and PGIs have traditional production conditions that ensure that the terroir can influence the qualities of the product (production methods that threaten this link to the terroir are avoided, industrialisation is limited). A product must meet these three conditions in order to be protected by an AOC or IGP. These two labels thus guarantee the authenticity of the product and its quality linked to the terroir. The difference between AOC and IGP is explained below:

A product with an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) is entirely produced in its region of origin, from the production of its raw materials to its final manufacture. The terroir and the expertise of the people involved give an AOC its quality. For an AOC cheese, for example, the milk comes from the area, the cheese is made there and then matured there. It cannot be produced anywhere else. There are 16 products with AOC status (base12-2006).

A product with a Protected Geographical Indication ( PGI) comes from a defined area, but not all stages of its production necessarily take place in the region that gives it its name. Expertise guarantees its typical character, but its quality is less strongly linked to its terroir. For example, the meat in an IGP sausage may come from a farm outside the IGP area. There are 6 IGP products (as of 12-2006).

Both AOC and IGP refer to products that have a traditional production area. There is a legal definition for both terms (Ordinance RS 910.12 of 28 May 1997 on the protection of designations of origin and geographical indications for agricultural products and processed agricultural products), as AOC and IGP are registered by the Federal Office for Agriculture in Bern (FOAG). AOC and PGI are serious and protected labels that offer consumers genuine guarantees:

Reliability: AOC and IGP are marks protected by Swiss law.

Origin: the origin and authenticity of the product are guaranteed.

Controls: production conditions are strictly controlled by an independent certification body (see below).

Typicality: the production methods preserve the typical characteristics of the product.

Taste and terroir: nature and human intervention give each product a distinctive taste and terroir flavours.

Proximity: the products come from a Swiss region.

Quality: producers are committed to offering a flawless product.

The use of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) is only possible if the product meets the requirements of the specifications. For these specifications to be credible, a neutral and independent certification body must verify that the conditions of production, processing and preparation set out in the specifications are actually being met. This guarantees the traceability of the product, and the abbreviations AOC and PGI cannot be used by products that are outside the control system.

Types of checks carried out:

Regular inspections of production sites to verify production conditions.

Physicochemical analyses of products to check their composition.

Annual organoleptic evaluations (tastings) to verify the typical taste of the products from each production unit.

Accounting reviews to verify the proper management of businesses.

Inspections of production sites must be unannounced and take place at least every two years (minimum requirement of the ordinance on the control of AOCs and PGIs). In practice, these checks take place more frequently.

List of AOC products registered as at 31 December 2006:

L'Étivaz AOC (28 January 2000)

Rheintaler Ribelmais AOC (7 August 2000)

Tête de Moine, Bellelay cheese AOC (8 May 2001)

Gruyère AOC (6 July 2001)

Valais pear brandy AOC (21 December 2001)

Sbrinz AOC (24 April 2002)

Formaggio d'alpe ticinese AOC (31 May 2002)

Abricotine AOC (6 January 2003)

Vacherin Mont-d'Or AOC (7 May 2003)

Geneva cardoon AOC (7 October 2003)

Pain de seigle valaisan AOC (29 January 2004)

Berner Alpkäse AOC/Berner Hobelkäse AOC (26 March 2004)

Munder Safran AOC (2 July 2004)

Vacherin Fribourgeois AOC (22 December 2005)

Emmentaler (6 October 2006)

List of PGI products registered as at 31 December 2006:

Viande des Grisons PGI (29 September 2000)

Saucisse d'Ajoie PGI (¹ November 2002)

Valais dried meat PGI (23 January 2003)

Neuchâtel sausage/Saucisse neuchâteloise PGI (6 June 2003)

Saucisson vaudois PGI (29 September 2004)

Saucisse aux choux vaudoise PGI (29 September 2004)

Contact:
Swiss Association of AOC-PGI
Effingerstrasse 16
CH-3008 Bern
Tel. 031/ 381 49 53 - Fax: 031/ 381 49 54
info@aoc-igp.ch