(September 20, 2017) Good news for made in Italy in Canada. The prosciutto of Parma will arrive on Canadian consumers’ tables with its own name. This is the important achievement for the king of prosciutto as a result of the CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) between the European Union and Canada, which will come into effect tomorrow, September 21. Specifically, the denomination “Prosciutto di Parma” will coexist with the brand “Parma” currently held by the Canadian company Maple Leaf. This is a historical milestone considering that, before such an agreement in Canada, as in other Anglo-Saxon countries, there was no system of protection of geographical indications, but the protection was reserved to the owner of the trademark who had registered it first. Today, however, CETA introduces, among other things, a framework for the discipline of the Geographical Indications which are recognized as a special status and protection on the Canadian market. “Now that we can legitimately use our name”, said Stefano Fanti, director of the Prosciutto di Parma Consortium, “we will work to consolidate our presence in this market and to develop exports, currently amounting to 70,000 hams per year. Our strategy will guide the way of quality and enhancement of the intrinsic features of our product that distinguish it from all the other raw hams. We thank the Italian Government, the European Commission and the Italian parliamentarians in Brussels for the intense and effective support they have reserved us in all these years and that has brought us to this important achievement. ” (Red)
