European dairy producers are keen participants in the European Union (EU) protective systems that prevent competitors from claiming to sell products made using traditional production methods and ingredients. The systems: PDO (protected designation of origin); PGI (protected geographical indication); and TSG (traditional speciality guaranteed) protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs. Access to these protections are closely guarded and enthusiastically sought, as witnessed by a recent European Court of Justice case involving a Czech dairy-style spread known as 'pomazankove maslo' (butter spread). Judges rejected a Czech government bid that it should be recognised as a TSG product, and hence be marketed as butter, even though under EU common market organisation (CMO) rules for food, it has insufficient dairy content to be sold as butter across the EU.
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