What is a Protected Designation of Origin?
The Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is the most comprehensive form of protection in the EU geographical indication system. It is granted when a product's quality and character come essentially from a specific region: its climate, its flora and its local know-how.
The key condition is that every stage of production, processing and preparation takes place in the defined geographical area. The product must follow a specification approved by the EU and is inspected regularly.
What does it guarantee to consumers?
The name of a PDO product is protected across the EU: products that do not meet the specification may not use, imitate or evoke it. Consumers can therefore be sure that the name on the label really stands for a product made in that region, in that way.
Bingöl Balı: the first Turkish honey with an EU geographical indication
Bingöl Balı was registered as a Protected Designation of Origin by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1891 of 3 July 2024. According to the EU Delegation to Türkiye, it is the first honey from Türkiye to receive this registration and the 23rd Turkish product with an EU geographical indication.
This means that the Bingöl Balı offered by GürAta is produced entirely within Bingöl province, from hive to jar, under the EU-approved specification. Made from the nectar of around 1,700 plant species on plateaus at 1,500–2,000 m, the honey is inspected by a commission three times a year and analysed in accredited laboratories.
