There are products that have a Designation of Origin as a guarantee of quality and origin. For example: Huelva ham.
You have to go to Latin to be able to find the etymological origin of the word denomination that concerns us now. There we discovered that it is a term that comes from the word “denominatio”, which was the process by which a person was given a name in order to identify them. It also applied to the action that was done, in the same way, with an object.
“Denominatio” is made up of three clearly delimited parts: the prefix “de-”, which indicates a direction from top to bottom; the noun “nomen”, which can be translated as “name”, and finally the suffix that indicates action and effect.
Naming concept
The denomination is the title , name or nickname that allows a person or thing to be distinguished. When naming an object, a term is attributed to it that makes it possible to identify it compared to others.
For example: “The German manufacturer has announced the name of its new car: Solertum” , “The name of the championship surprised the participating clubs” , “The new owners intend to change the name of the theatre” .
Blue cheese is the generic name of the product popularly known as Roquefort.
Different levels and uses
Most things have a name so that people can identify and recognize them . It should be noted that the denomination can function at different levels. Gibson Les Paul is the name of a model of electric guitar manufactured by Gibson : however, a musician can give a more specific name to a guitar of this model and name it “Paulina” .
In some cases, the official name of something differs from the most commonly used name. Soccer fans refer to the most important tournament organized by the South American Soccer Confederation as the Copa Libertadores , although its official name varies depending on the main sponsor. Thus, the cup has been called, at different times, the Toyota Libertadores Cup or the Santander Libertadores Cup .
Designation of Origin
Known as Denomination of Origin or Protected Denomination of Origin , on the other hand, is an official name that is assigned to certain products as a guarantee of their origin and quality. Sherry wine , Huelva ham and Chilean pisco are some products with Designation of Origin .
It is important to know that for a product to be framed within a specific designation of origin, it must meet a series of fundamental requirements such as the following:
• It is vital that the production, transformation and preparation process takes place within what would be the geographical scope of the aforementioned quality standard.
• It is necessary that the producers of the article commit, in the same way, to all the controls and certification processes that are established and determined by the regulatory councils.
• It is also essential that the product in question meets a series of characteristics in terms of properties or quality.
Confusion with common name
That the consumer can clearly identify the product they purchase or have complete certainty that the item in question has a degree of differentiation and quality superior to the rest is what is sought, among other things, with the implementation of the appellations of origin.
In some cases, the Denomination of Origin is confused with the common name of the product. This happens with Roquefort cheese , whose generic name should be blue cheese .