The world leader in its category, the Côtes de Provence terroir is emblematic for its history and expertise in rosé wine. It produces France's fourth-largest wine appellation, and exports 43% of its wines.

As such, the Syndicat des vins "Côtes de Provence" remains particularly vigilant in protecting and defending the name of its appellation internationally.

Among the various means of operating a legal mesh in export territories, it is vital for it to monitor the various international agreements that may intervene between the European Union and areas of the world lacking recognition of geographical indications.

The Syndicat supports all the work undertaken by the INAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food's "Globalization and Food Security" Office, working to promote quality signs and in particular the recognition of our PDOs around the world.

• When did you join?

Following receipt of the individual letter from the INAO and convinced by the interest of the approach, we proceeded within the tight deadline announced by the INAO's legal and international department to pay the relevant amendment fees to the WIPO international office. Throughout the procedure, the INAO's legal and international department supported us.

The Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture were able to take up the baton upstream of the procedure, in order to provide useful information for updating the regulatory base and to provide the elements needed to qualify the link to the territory.

• How did this registration go?

Membership formalities were simplified by the constant support of government departments, at the very heart of exchanges with the European Commission and international organizations.

The costs generated by the accession of our PDO to the Geneva Act induce the protection of our PDO on all the signatory states of the Geneva Act but also the extension of our rights on the territories of Cambodia and Samoa. However, the benefits of protecting and preserving the common heritage of all our winegrowers must be kept in perspective. Individual actions aimed at securing these new markets would certainly have been longer, more costly, for an uncertain result.

• What do you see as the advantages of such a registration?

The name of our appellation is well-known and envied, and protecting it is a priority for developing and preserving our export markets. The human and financial investments made over many years by our operators who have built the reputation of our rosé wines must not suffer usurpation or counterfeiting.

To be able to take legal action in local courts and act at borders, our rights must be recognized. The legal network set up in export countries enables our ODG to enforce its rights.

Finally, the extension of Côtes de Provence PDO recognition to Cambodia and Samoa is excellent news, given the growing involvement of our operators and the promotional actions of our interprofession in Asia-Pacific.