The European Union asked that Moldova should sign a convention on the products with controlled designations of origin or geographic indications. The request was made in connection with the talks on the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that will be opened this year. The implementation of the given agreement will allow protecting the European products in Moldova and the Moldovan products in the EU, said Deputy Minister of Economy Octavian Calmac, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “This legal framework is very important for the Moldovan producers of alcoholic drinks. We have wines with controlled designations of origin or geographic indications, but none of them was included in the State Intellectual Property Register. This register does not contain designations of origin or geographic indications registered in the EU member states and other countries either. This fact could cause great trouble to the producers of alcoholic beverages that export their products to the EU in a year or two,” the deputy minister said. Octavian Calmac also said that the procedure for registering products with controlled designations of origin or geographic indications is not complicated, does not incur large costs and lasts for at most half a year. Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Valeriu Cosarciuc said the Agriculture Ministry approved a plan of action for reviewing the names of the alcoholic products and formulating requirements concerning the special qualities of products with designations of origin or geographic indications. By its polices, the Ministry will stimulate the creation of producers’ associations that will use geographic indications or designations of origin. In such EU countries as France, Italy, Spain and Germany, the products with controlled designations of origin or geographic indications are very popular. They show the national specific features and sell at much higher prices.