Good practice:

Funding of actions for the promotion of cultural heritage and local products in Macedonia & Thrace

The aim of the call was to provide support to Social Cooperative Enterprises of Collective and Social Benefit, Producer Groups and Agricultural Cooperatives in the process of preparation, documentation and submission of technical files for the certification of traditional local products with the quality label of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG), according to Regulation 1151/2012 of the EU.
On the one hand PARAGO provides technical support to the eligible beneficiaries for the certification procedure of PDO/ PGI/ TSG quality labels, while on the other hand funds networking and promotion activities for the 58 registered as PDO and PGI products of Macedonia and Thrace.
The overall objectives of PARAGO are related to the connection of the products and their special characteristics with the biodiversity of the area, the traditional way of production and processing, the culture, the customs and traditions of the production of the local communities, the strengthening of mountainous, semi-mountainous, border areas, the protection of the intellectual property and social characteristics of the local communities of Macedonia and Thrace.

The total budget of the call amounts to 176,400€, allocated to 110,400€ for the technical support and to 66,000€ for communication activities.

In total 11 local products (3 PDO, 3 PGI and 5 TSG) have been submitted for certification to the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Foods and to the EU.
Networking and promotional activities to domestic and international food fairs for the 58 certified and the 11 under certification products.

The process for the certification of new traditional local products with quality label PDO/PGI/TSG is time consuming, therefore technical support is essential.

PARAGO can be applied to other regional or interregional areas with common characteristics in terms of cultural heritage and local production.
PARAGO aims at the promotion of the sustainability of local communities, the protection of both producers and consumers, the development of agritourism and gastronomy through the interconnection with culture and local traditional products as a part of the overall regional branding strategy.
As an example of transferring of the good practice to another territory, the Region of Thessaly in cooperation with the Ministry is planning to implement the above activity through the Regional Development Programme 2021-2025.