European Commission's participation at TIF to highlight Greek PDO products, Schinas says

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products will be the focus of the European Commission's participation in the 84th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF 2019), said Margaritis Schinas, Deputy Director-General of the Commission's Communications Directorate and Greece's proposed European Commissioner.

Schinas visited the Commission's stand on Saturday, the first day of the fair, saying: "We consider the exhibition a springboard for the export-orientation and competitiveness of the Greek economy after 10 years of crisis. This year, our presence and pavilion are focused on a wealth that we possess in Greece, the PDO products, a European passport of quality that allows our traditional agricultural products to have a high marketability and very good access, not only to the internal market but also to international markets".

Schinas noted that the Commission will be exhibiting more than 250 Greek PDO agricultural products - out of a total of 3,500 throughout Europe - at its stand during the fair, bringing in chefs to cook them and inviting people to come and taste them.

He stressed that the European Commission will always support the effort for an economic reorganisation of Greece and of a new start of the Greek economy. He also noted that PDO products "are not just an additional passport of quality for markets but are also protected by the European shield and in all international trade agreements drawn up by the EU with third countries. In other words, they are a unique and very powerful European passport".