Spain Suspends Protection for the ‘Aceite de Jaén’ Label
Spain’s agriculture ministry has suspended the temporary national protection it gave last year to “Aceite de Jaén”, the proposed Protected Geographical Indication meant to cover olive oil from the whole of the world’s biggest olive oil province, after a court in Granada froze the application. The resolution was published in Spain’s Official Gazette yesterday. Here is what has happened, why a label for all of Jaén has run into trouble inside Jaén itself, and what it means for the oil you buy.
What was decided
The resolution, dated December 19 and signed by the then director general of food industry and markets, Isabel Bombal, sets out the history in a few paragraphs. In December 2010 the Andalusian agriculture department approved the application to register “Aceite de Jaén” as a Protected Geographical Indication in the European Union’s register. At the region’s request, the ministry then granted the name temporary national protection in May 2011, which is allowed while Brussels examines an application.
Then came an appeal. In a case brought against the Andalusian approval, the administrative chamber of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia, sitting in Granada, ordered the registration procedure suspended as a precaution on October 28, and confirmed that order on November 22. The European Commission has been told about the case. Because the name could otherwise cause harm to third parties, the ministry has now suspended the national protection too.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| December 10, 2010 | Andalusia approves the application for EU registration |
| May 27, 2011 | Ministry grants temporary national protection |
| October 28, 2011 | Andalusian High Court suspends the procedure |
| November 22, 2011 | Court confirms the suspension |
| December 19, 2011 | Ministry suspends national protection (published January 9, 2012) |
A label for all of Jaén, and who objected
The resolution does not say who lodged the appeal. What is on the record is that the plan was never unanimous. Jaén already has three olive oil designations of origin: Sierra Mágina, Sierra de Segura and Sierra de Cazorla. In September 2010, Óleo Revista reported that the regional government wanted all of the province’s oils under the “Aceites de Jaén” umbrella, and that Sierra Mágina, Sierra de Segura and producers from the Campiña and Sierra Sur areas had signed up, but that the Sierra de Cazorla regulatory council had still not decided whether to join. By November 2010 the Junta was blaming that council’s reluctance for delaying the project, and saying it wanted a model like a regional label in Tuscany that works alongside the smaller designations without overlapping them.
The Junta’s argument was simple. Its delegate in Jaén, Felipe López, said the regional label was a way to get past localism and reach bigger markets, because when ordinary consumers think about olive oil there is an almost automatic association between oil, quality and Jaén. The small designations have a different worry: that a province-wide label covering some 60 million trees dilutes the value of their own, harder-won names.
- A Protected Designation of Origin ties every stage to a defined area and a tight specification.
- A Protected Geographical Indication is looser: at least one stage must happen in the area.
- An umbrella indication over existing designations tends to help the biggest sellers most, which is why small designations are wary.
What it means for buyers
For now, nothing changes on the shelf. The three Jaén designations remain protected, and oil from the province can still say it comes from Jaén, as a plain statement of origin, just not under a protected indication. Our guide on how to read an olive oil label explains the difference between the two. For a sense of why the name Jaén is worth fighting over, our piece on Andalusia’s olive road describes the province and its sea of trees, and our note on the Spanish harvest shows the scale of the crop.
A regional label is only as good as its specification and the inspectors who enforce it. A small mountain designation can check every mill in a week. A label for a whole province producing half a million tons of oil in a good year is a much bigger promise, and buyers learn quickly whether it means anything. Small designations fighting to stay separate are often defending something real.
Sources
- Boletín Oficial del Estado, Resolution of December 19, 2011 suspending the national transitional protection of the PGI “Aceite de Jaén” (BOE-A-2012-342, January 9, 2012)
- Óleo Revista, “El Ministerio de Agricultura suspende la protección nacional a la IGP ‘Aceite de Jaén’ tras el auto del TSJA” (January 10, 2012)
- Óleo Revista, “La Junta de Andalucía insta a la DO Cazorla a integrarse en la IGP Aceites de Jaén” (September 6, 2010)
- Óleo Revista, “La DO Cazorla frena la etiqueta de calidad para el aceite de Jaén” (November 16, 2010)