The geographical indications system in the Republic of Moldova and its impact on the development of the wine-growing and wine-making sector were topics discussed during the broadcast “Public Space” Radio Moldova.

The geographical indication (GI) as an industrial property object is a relatively new and unknown field to local producers. Although the legal basis has existed since 2008 (Law 66/2008 on the Protection of Geographical Indications, Appellations of Origin and Traditional Specialties Guaranteed), it was only in 2012 that wine producers decided to unify forces and request the registration of geographical indications. Thus, 10 years after that period, wine producers, experts from the State Agency on Intellectual Property and the National Office of Vine and Wine were invited to a dialogue to talk about the impact of protected GI.

For the beginning, the Head of the Trademarks and Industrial Design Department, AGEPI, Simion Levitchi spoke about the conditions that must be met to obtain the protection of a protected geographical indication, the differences between geographical indications and appellations of origin, benefits obtained as a result of registration, who can obtain and what are those geographical indications currently protected with reference to wines (for example - Codru, Valul lui Traian, Stefan Voda).

The process of obtaining protection for GI from the point of view of producers and its impact on the process of promoting and marketing products was then discussed.

Finally, entrepreneurs were urged to invest in the protection of their products in order to gain consumer confidence in the local market and later in the international market.

View the full broadcast here https://www.trm.md/ro/spatiul-public/spatiul-public-economia-vitivinicola