Bulgarian rose oil – a product of high value

Bulgarian rose oil was entered under the Geneva Act in the International Register of the World Intellectual Property Organization. This is the first Bulgarian agricultural product included in this register, stated the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Georgi Sabev during a conference on the topic „Geographical indications for agricultural and non-agricultural products — challenges and changes“ at the end of April, organized by the Patent Office on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day.

With its registration, Bulgarian rose oil will have even better visibility and protection.

As a very important highlight, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture emphasized the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture in supporting Bulgarian producers of food and beverages with distinctive quality and in creating the best possible conditions for their products on our domestic and foreign markets, including those with geographical indications.

The geographical indications sector makes an enormous contribution to the economy of the European Union, with annual revenues from the sale of products with geographical indications exceeding EUR 75 billion, as well as 15.5% of the total exports of agricultural products and beverages. The reform of the European quality schemes for agricultural goods is expected to create better conditions for market positioning of producers of products with geographical indications.

EU quality schemes

The objective of the EU quality policy is to protect the names of certain products in order to promote their unique characteristics, related to their geographical origin and the traditional know-how used in their production.

Product names may obtain a „geographical indication“ if they have a specific link to the place where they are produced. Since geographical indications are recognized as intellectual property, they play an increasingly important role in trade negotiations between the EU and other countries. Through the system of geographical indications, the names of products originating from specific regions and having particular qualities or a reputation associated with the area of production are protected.

The other EU quality schemes are for foods with a traditional speciality.

For foods with a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG), the focus is on their traditional aspects — for example, the method of production or the composition of the product, and they are not linked to a specific geographical region. The name of a product that is registered as a TSG is protected against falsification and misuse.

Bulgaria ranks second in the European Union in terms of the number of registered foods with a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. The registered national products are already 10, and among them is Bulgarian rose oil.