The effects of certification costs on the success of a PDO/PGI

ABSTRACT: To protect and valorise quality agrifood products the European Union provides two quality signs linked to the area of origin of the product: the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Through a case - study analysis on three Tuscan products the paper shows how PDO/PGI certification costs influence the choice of the actors in using a PDO or a PGI. The paper aims at categorising and qualifying some positive and negative effects of using a PDO/PGI in order to draw a “cost-benefit balance”, so as to evaluate the opportunity of valorization of an agrifood product through these quality signs. OTHER INFORMATIONS: The article elaborates and deepens the contents of the paper presented at the 92 EAAE (European Association of Agricultural Economics) Seminar entitled “Quality management and quality assurance in Food chains", University of Gottingen (Germany), January 2005. It has been selected among the papers presented to the Seminar and has been peer reviewed. The research on which this paper is based was conducted within the project Development of Origin Labelled Products: Humanity, Innovation and Sustainability (‘DOLPHINS’), QLK5-2000-00593, http://www.origin-food.org. The research was founded by the Europen Union,, 5th Framework Research Programme