La Denominazione di Origine Protetta: uno strumento di tutela del consumatore? Il caso del Prosciutto di Parma - Protected Designation of Origin: an instrument of consumer protection? The case of Parma Ham.

Over the last decades, the EU has addressed the agro-food policies towards consumer protection through mandatory and voluntary tools. Among the latter, the European Council has updated the legislation on geographical indications (Reg. (CE) 610/2006) which establishes certifications of the territorial links of agri-food productions.This research aims to analyse to what extent the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) fulfil the objective of consumer protection.There are two parts in the study.The first one approaches the theoretical and EU legislative aspects of the territorial quality of agri-food products; the second part analyses the production system of a PDO product, the PDO Parma Ham. In this case study, the supply-chain and the actors involved, the quality system of the supplychain and communication to consumers on PDO certification are considered. Finally, some remarks are presented about the gaps of EU legislation on geographical indications when the aim is consumer protection.