Olive Groves in PDO Kolymvari, Crete
“PDO” and “PGI” designate products linked to specific parts of Europe, as defined by the European Commission. The designations are meant to help avoid confusion over inappropriate claims about product origins, and to emphasize the way a product’s unique quality is linked to the place it comes from. “PDO” stands for Protected Designation of Origin (Italian: Denominazione di Origine Protetta, or DOP). “PGI” means Protected Geographical Indication. Strict standards for each PDO and PGI product indicate that certifications involve quality controls.
There are 33 registered PDOs and PGIs for Greek olive oils. The Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food has not yet added to its list the recent Greek olive oil PGI (‘Κρήτη / Kriti’ extra virgin olive oil), nor do we see the latest Greek olive oil PDO (Elaiolado Makris), but you can see most of the rest listed by clicking on “Olive oil – olives” on the Ministry’s website.
The following information about European quality schemes, which include PDOs and PGIs, is copied from the European Commission (EC) website under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. (Some boldfacing has been added for emphasis.) To see the images on labels associated with PDO and PGI designations, learn about regulations for quality schemes, and find out more about other European quality and certification schemes and a new GI regulation that started in 2024, go to the EC website.
Aims of EU quality schemes
EU quality policy aims to protect the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how.
Product names can be granted a ‘geographical indication’ (GI) if they have a specific link to the place where they are made. The GI recognition enables consumers to trust and distinguish quality products while also helping producers to market their products better.
Products that are under consideration or have been granted GI recognition are listed in geographical indications registers. The registers also include information on the geographical and production specifications for each product.
Recognised as intellectual property, geographical indications play an increasingly important role in trade negotiations between the EU and other countries.
Other EU quality schemes emphasise the traditional production process or products made in difficult natural areas such as mountains or islands.
Geographical indications
Geographical indications establish intellectual property rights for specific products, whose qualities are specifically linked to the area of production.
Geographical indications comprise:
• PDO – Protected Designation of Origin (food and wine)
• PGI – Protected Geographical Indication (food and wine)
• GI – Geographical Indication (spirit drinks).
The EU Geographical indications system protects the names of products that originate from specific regions and have specific qualities or enjoy a reputation linked to the production territory. The differences between PDO and PGI are linked primarily to how much of the product’s raw materials must come from the area, or how much of the production process has to take place within the specific region. GI is specific for spirit drinks.
Protected designation of origin (PDO)
Product names registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the place in which they are made.
- Products: Food, agricultural products and wines.
- Specifications: Every part of the production, processing and preparation process must take place in the specific region. For wines, this means that the grapes have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is made.
- Example: Kalamata olive oil PDO is entirely produced in the region of Kalamata in Greece, using olive varieties from that area.
- Label: Mandatory for food and agricultural products, optional for wine.
Protected geographical indication (PGI)
PGI emphasises the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
- Products: Food, agricultural products and wines.
- Specifications: For most products, at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the region. In the case of wine, this means that at least 85% of the grapes used have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is actually made.
- Example: Westfälischer Knochenschinken PGI ham is produced in Westphalia using age-old techniques, but the meat used does not exclusively come from animals born and reared in that specific region of Germany.
- Label: Mandatory for food, agricultural products, optional for wines.
How products are protected
As part of the EU’s system of intellectual property rights, names of products registered as GIs are legally protected against imitation and misuse within the EU and in non-EU countries where a specific protection agreement has been signed.
For all quality schemes, each EU country’s competent national authorities take the necessary measures to protect the registered names within their territory. They should also prevent and stop the unlawful production or marketing of products using such a name.
Non-European product names can also register as GIs if their country of origin has a bilateral or regional agreement with the EU that includes the mutual protection of such names.
The names of various products (wine, food and spirit drinks) produced in several countries outside the EU, such as Colombia or South Africa, have been protected.
GIs applied for and entered in the Union registers may be consulted on eAmbrosia (the official database of EU GI registers), while both EU and non-EU GIs protected under agreements can be consulted on the GIview portal.
Page updated October 2, 2025.
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