The future of the quality policy in the light of the CAP post-2013

Quality policy is an integral part of the CAP and represents a useful instrument for promoting both the competitiveness of the agricultural system and the vitality of rural areas. With the “quality packageâ€, changes are introduced in the normative framework of the PDO, PGI and TSG products, with the objective of answering to the needs of both producers, for sustainable profitability, and consumers, for a higher level of information and guarantees on the origin of products. Nevertheless, considering the magnitude of structural and socio-economic differences that mark quality production systems across Europe, the possibility of making the system capable of answering to the different needs still seems to be open.