The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has sent to the European Commission the registration requests for the Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) "Tomate Canario" and "Café de Agaete".
These requests come, on one hand, from the Provincial Federation of Associations of Exporters of Horticultural Products of the province of Las Palmas (FEDEX) and the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, and, on the other, from the Agroagaete Association along with the Town Hall of Agaete. The processing has been carried out through the Canarian Institute of Agro-food Quality (ICCA), dependent on the Government of the Canary Islands.
From now on, the European Commission has a maximum period of 6 months to analyze the documentation and, if deemed appropriate, request clarifications or complementary data from the ICCA, as detailed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty in a statement.
Once the community services give the green light, the requests will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), along with the reference to the terms of reference and the subsequent registrations in the Register of Geographical Indications of the European Union. This step will open a new period of public information and possible allegations at the community level, lasting three months. After this stage, Brussels may grant the definitive recognition of both PGIs.
A key step to safeguard differentiated quality
The director of the ICCA, Luis Arráez Guadalupe, emphasized that this review by the EU represents the next logical step in a procedure "decisive for the legal protection of differentiated quality products that have great value for the Canary Islands in general, and for the island of Gran Canaria in particular".
He also recalled that, currently, the denominations "Tomate Canario" and "Café de Agaete" have temporary protection at the state level while the community file is completed.
Arráez explained that, at the end of July and the beginning of August, the Official Bulletin of the Canary Islands (BOC) published the Resolutions that allowed the Ministry to elevate the file to Brussels and that, at the same time, represented "a support for the rigorous work of both subsectors".
These European seals guarantee that the quality or reputation of the product is linked to the geographical environment in which they are obtained, including natural and human factors related to their origin. In this way, they become a hallmark of identity and a tool for defense against productions from other areas.
Quality labels such as the IGP help to energize the rural economy, especially in areas with natural limitations or other specific difficulties, from mountain regions to territories far from the continent, such as the RUP, where production costs are higher than in other regions of the Union.
In this framework, quality regimes act as a complement to rural development policies, to marketing support measures, and to income aids included in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
In addition to the Avocado from the Canary Islands, which has held this label since May 2025, the Canary Islands products with differentiated quality already protected by an IGP are the Canarian Gofio, the Ronmiel from the Canary Islands, and the Canary Banana.
They are joined by those with a Protected Designation of Origin (DOP): the Palmero Cheese, Majorero Cheese, Flor de Guía Cheese / Half Flor de Guía Cheese / Guía Cheese, Ancient Potatoes from the Canary Islands, Honey from Tenerife, and Cochineal from the Canary Islands, in addition to the eleven DOP wine designations of the archipelago: La Palma, El Hierro, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Lanzarote, Valle de Güímar, Valle de La Orotava, Tacoronte-Acentejo, Abona, Ycoden-Daute-Isora, and Canary Islands.