Japan has launched a research project supported by the Nipponese Ministry of the Environment to investigate ways of improving the local circular economy, and the sustainability of Japanese products. As part of this, researchers have been looking at the success of geographical indications and the valorization of French terroir.

INAO was asked by Shinji Hasegawa, Professor of International Trade at Waseda University's Faculty of Social Sciences, and his team, to gain a better understanding of the GI system. In particular, to identify the relationships between the various players involved, the processes that have shaped GIs, and the role of these GIs (AOC/AOP/IGP) both in the protection of denominations but also in the environmental sustainability of their production system.

A discovery of emblematic Burgundy sectors and professionals

The Centre-Est delegation of the INAO welcomed the delegation. After a presentation of the GI system and the role of INAO, visits took place. On Monday September 30, the Japanese researchers had the opportunity to discover a cheese farm producing Charolais PDO, and more broadly this sector and the content of the GI specifications through exchanges with the Syndicat de défense de l'AOP Charolais, the defense and management organization (ODG). On Tuesday, October 1, visitors were able to go to the Cité des vins de Mâcon to discover the "Mâcon" and "Pouilly-Fuissé" PDOs, meet the ODGs of these two appellations, and visit a farm in Solutré-Pouilly as well as the Terres Secrètes winegrowers' cooperative cellar.

This initial discovery trip will probably be supplemented by subsequent exchanges with teams from INAO headquarters and the Ministère chargé de l'Agriculture. The aim is to deepen understanding of how geographical indications work and their contribution to safeguarding and sustaining national agriculture.