EU lists Czech blue poppy in protected geographical indication (PGI) register

The EU has listed the Czech blue poppy in the European "Register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications". The process took five and a half years rather than the usual year.

Vlastimil Mikšík of the Czech Agricultural University told ČTK that in the case of the Czech blue poppy, it had to be proven repeatedly that it a food additive commonly consumed in the Czech Republic and not a pharmaceutical raw material.

Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Vojtěch Bílý said the registration as a protected designation is a great success because the state has been trying in various ways to prevent counterfeiting of the special poppy plant for more than a decade.