The European Certification Schemes as a Warranty Tool and Enhancement to High Quality Food Production: the Piedmontese PDO Cheeses

Introduction: the high quality foodstuff covered by the National Economy of Taste is being severely threatened by distortions of the facts in the system, which are also anti-economic, such as commercial fraud. Indeed, in some more serious cases, such frauds may even turn into food alerts, running the risk of causing serious injury to the consumers’ health. The European Union has implemented a set of tools targeted at reducing the risk of food crises, thanks to the food safety and commercial fraud legislation, with the implementation of some Food Quality Certification Schemes. Objectives: this research has two objectives, one is the assessment of the efficacy of the quality systems as a tool against counterfeiting and a means to contain the more general phenomenon of food commercial fraud e.g. Agro-piracy and Italian Sounding. The other is the dissemination of the fact that these systems may also be applied to achieve positive economic results. Data and Methods: this study analyzed the Protected Designation of Origin of Piedmontese cheeses. The data was collected in collaboration with the authorities for the control and protection of products bearing the PDO denomination. Results: the resulting data emphasized how the implementation of quality systems into the Piedmontese dairy supply chain bore fruit in terms of advantages to the sector, involving both business and quality. The control activities within the PDO system are a useful tool to fight the commercial/health fraud phenomena. Conclusions: food quality is one of main objectives the European Union set within the sphere of multifunctionality in agriculture. Therefore, it is of particular importance that the rural development programmes make contributions linked to the implementation of the European quality systems.