Protected designation of origin granted to "Lapin Poron kuivaliha"

"Lapin Poron kuivaliha" comes from reindeer born, raised and slaughtered in the Finnish reindeer herding area. The animals roam free in natural pastures in the wilderness. The meat is dried outdoors using a centuries old traditional method. The PDO requires that the reindeer meat is also packaged in the Finnish reindeer herding area.

This is the second PDO granted to reindeer meat. Of the Finnish products "Lapin Poron liha" (reindeer meat from Lapland) and "Lapin Puikula" potato from Lapland have earlier been included in the list of PDO products. "Kainuun rönttönen" pie has been granted the protected geographical indication PGI, while the Karelian pie, "Kalakukko" traditional fish and pork pie and "Sahti" beer have been registered as Traditional Speciality Guaranteed products (TSG).

The purpose of the protected designations and indications is to safeguard foodstuffs and agricultural products against misuse of their name and low-priced counterfeit products. In most cases the protection may be applicable to products produced and prepared in a traditional way within a certain geographical area or by a certain method for several generations. For consumers the protected name is a guarantee that the origin, raw material and production and preparation method of the product are known.

There are different systems for such protection, of which the protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) concern the production and preparation of the product in the traditional geographical area. The third system (TSG) protects the traditional preparation method of the product. The systems are applicable in all EU Member States, which means that a registered product name is protected in the whole Community area.

So far such protection has been granted to about a thousand products. Before "Lapin Poron kuivaliha" PDO had been granted to only 32 meat products. The applications of "Lapin Poron kuivaliha" and other protected products are available on the Commission's website in the Database of Origin and Registration DOOR.

Further information:
Maija Heinonen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, tel. +358 (0)40 518 5259
Matti Särkelä, Reindeer Herders' Association, tel. +358 (0)40 581 1971