As Morski writes, the very first sector to recognise the advantage of the Croatian quality system for agricultural and food products – “Proven Quality (Dokazana kvaliteta)” is the fruit production sector. Back on October the 2nd, 2020 the Ministry of Agriculture received the first application for recognition of the Croatian quality label Proven Quality – Fruit submitted by the Association of Croatian Fruit Growers.
Following the successful implementation of the legally prescribed procedure, which includes the expert examination of the Product Specification, the national complaint procedure and the notification procedure at the EU level, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a Decision recognising the “Proven Croatian Quality” label for homegrown fruit.
The specification includes the following fruit species: apples, pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, figs, apricots, strawberries, American blueberries, raspberries, grapes, mandarines, chokeberries (aronia), and certain nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds).
Through a unique Croatian quality label on the fruit that will bear the sign “Proven Quality – Croatia”, the consumer will be informed that they’re purchasing fruit of domestic origin and a higher quality in regard to controlled production.
The Ministry of Agriculture is establishing a Croatian quality label system for agricultural and food products under the same name in order to achieve greater recognition and promotion of domestic agricultural and food products.
The national quality system is designed to further label higher quality agricultural and food products, ie products with special characteristics within certain sectors, including milk, meat, fruit and their products, with emphasis placed on the added quality of products resulting from various factors, such as the method of production, the quality of the raw material or the final product, and basing it all on objective and measurable criteria.
In addition to informing consumers about the added value of these labelled products, this system also protects producers from unfair practices.
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