The EU has for the first time granted legal protection to a traditional food product made in two countries – not just one – against being copied by manufacturers from outside its home region.
The groundbreaking protected designation of origin (PDO) and geographical indication has been awarded to a honey made in Poland and Lithuania.
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The honey is called Miód z Sejnenszczyny/Lozdziejszczyzny in Polish and Seinu/Lazdiju krašto medus in Lithuanian. It is dark yellow or gold, slightly cloudy and made from pollen from several dozen plants in the Niemen river valley, (shared by both countries), including maple, dandelion, raspberry, buckthorn, clover.
Noting the “area is united by its geographical situation, climate, identical flora and fauna and relief”, the Commission said: “This is not only the first Lithuanian protected designation of origin, but also first transnational PDO.”
