not only to harmonise the procedure for their recognition with that of products with a designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI). In fact, while apparently remaining unchanged, the definition of TSG itself undergoes some changes, thus taking a further step in the evolutionary journey that has led to a distancing from what was originally intended.9 The second purpose is therefore to examine the transformation of this definition, in order to understand what their current understanding entails, according to which the name of a TSG can access the protection granted to it by EU legislation, if the product so designated results “from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice” or is obtained “from raw materials or ingredients traditionally used”10. As in the past11, the declared objective of the current reform to the substantive regulation on TSGs is the attempt to stimulate their attractiveness for economic operators, which has so far remained rather limited in practice12, since the interest in having one’s own products recognised as PDO or PGI has clearly prevailed, even if this approach has raised some concerns13, especially when it came to lesser-known or virtually unknown designations14. 9 The discipline on TSGs was introduced by Council Reg. (EEC) No 1992/2082 of 14 July 1992 on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs, in OJEC L 208 of 24 July 1992, p.9, ELI: http://data. europa.eu/eli/reg/1992/2082/oj, exclusively dedicated to this matter (the first discipline). It was then replaced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2006/509 of 20 March 2006 on agricultural products and foodstuffs as traditional specialities guaranteed, ibid., L 93 of 31 March 2006, p.1, http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/509/oj (the second discipline), where TSGs continued to be treated separately from PDOs and PGIs of agri-food products. The unification into a single text took place through Regulation (EU) No. 2012/1151 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, ibid., L 343 of 14 December 2012, p.1,http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/1151/oj, whose Title III was dedicated to TSGs (the third discipline), while Title II dealt with PDOs and PGIs. Lastly, the latter was repealed by the aforementioned Regulation (EU) No. 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/ reg/2024/1143/oj, whose title III was dedicated to TSGs (the fourth discipline). I. Trapè, Le specialità tradizionali garantite (STG), in (directed by: P. Borghi, I. Canfora, A. Di Lauro, L. Russo) Trattato di diritto alimentare italiano e dell’Unione Europea, part V, 2024, p.633; O. Cesana, G. Rusconi, Il diritto alimentare, Kluwer, 2024; M. Giuffrida, Segni degli alimenti: DOP, IGP, STG, in (directed by R. Sacco) Digesto delle discipline privatistiche, sezione civile, XI, 2018, p. 435. 10 Reg. 2024/1143, cited above, Art. 53(1). 11 Reg. (EU) No 2012/1151, cited above, recital 34. 12 Reg. 2024/1143, cited above, recital 64: “as only a few names have been registered, the current scheme for traditional specialities guaranteed has failed to realise its potential“. A. Zappalaglio, Anatomy of Traditional Specialities Guaranteed: analysis of the functioning, limitations and (possible) future of the forgotten EU quality scheme, in GRUR international, 2022-12, Vol.71, p.1147-1161 13 F. Capelli, La tutela dei prodotti agroalimentari di qualità in Italia e in Europa, Naples, 2018, p.306. In his other work (Il Regolamento (UE) n. 1151/2012 sui regimi di qualità dei prodotti agro-alimentari: luci ed ombre, in Riv. dir. alim., 1, 2014, p.55) the author criticises the European legal regime on TSGs, however, considering it unsuitable to meet the needs of producers. 14 F. Capelli, La tutela dei prodotti agroalimentari di qualità in Italia e in Europa, Napoli, 2018, p.306. 331 FOODSTUFF TRADITION PROTECTION
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