The European Commission has registered the name "Magyar szürkemarha hús" (Hungarian Grey Cattle Meat) among the protected geographical indications and designations of origin. The Commission has registered more that 1000 names, of which around 120 are in the fresh meat category.

One of the advantages of registration is that it provides protection against false use of the name, as registered names may not be used by other EU countries. The other advantage involves the use of the EU symbol. It makes the Hungarian product recognisable and easily differentiated by consumers.

The registration of the name means that "Hungarian Grey Cattle Meat" is now officially included among such well-known meats as the United Kingdom's Welsh Beef and Scotch Beef, and the French Maine-Anjou and Génisse Fleur d'Aubrac.

The presence of the symbol makes is obvious to all European consumers that the product's unique characteristics stem from its geographical origin, which also increases consumer confidence in the product.

Starting from the date of registration (December 9, 2011), the labels of all products put into circulation using the name Hungarian Grey Cattle Meat must include the EU symbol showing protected geographical status, in accordance with the description of the product.

The EU registry now includes nine Hungarian geographical product names. In addition to Hungarian Grey Cattle Meat, the registry also lists "Szegedi (téli) szalámi" ("Szeged [Winter] Salami"), "Budapesti téliszalámi" ("Budapest Winter Salami"), "Csabai kolbász/Csabai vastagkolbász" ("Csabai sausage and Csabai thick sausage") and "Gyulai kolbász/Gyulai pároskolbász" ("Gyulai sausage and Gyulai thick sausage"), as well as "Hajdúsági torma" ("Hajdúság Horseradish"), "Makói (vörös) hagyma" ("Makó Onions"), "Gönci kajszibarack" ("Gönc Apricots") and "Szegedi paprika" ("Szeged Paprika Powder").

In 1992, the European Union created an accreditation system for the protection and preservation of agricultural products and foods that are officially designated as being of protected geographical indication or protected geographical origin. The goal of the programme is to motivate increased variety in agricultural production, and to support the products acknowledged in this way; it is a tool with which those involved in the agricultural economy may increase the market value of their products and protect the member states' products of recognised geographical origin from fraud and abuse, thus assuring their preservation and uniform quality. To receive the protection of the Community, the manufacturer of the product must prepare a detailed product description. If the documents presented when requesting registration support the fact that the product is entitled to protection, the Ministry of Rural Development – on the basis of the proposal of the Hungarian Council for the Protection of Appellations of Origin, and in conjunction with the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office – passes the official decision and forwards the application for registration to the European Commission.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)