The Farm to Fork strategy as an external driver for change: possible impacts on nested GI rule systems

Abstract

Geographical Indications (GIs) are important tools in the national and international trade, capable to convey to consumer information on the place-based quality and reputation of products. Beyond this function, the commercial use of the name in the marketplace can help preserve and protect material and immaterial goods, including local reputation and public goods.1 The legal framework of EU quality schemes is a multi-level governance system, where various stakeholders act at different levels (local, national, European, international). As pointed out by Marie-Vivien and Biénabe, these governance levels are regulated by nested rule systems and heterogeneous stakeholders.2 At the local level, the rule system involves the rules codified in the product specifications and local informal practices. At the national level, the rule system is constituted by the legal framework adopted by each Member State and by national authorities’ informal practices.3 At the EU and international level, the rule...