CSQA returns as control body for Aosta Valley cheese, confirming its leadership in the certification of designations of origin

The Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and Fraud Repression (ICQRF) of agri-food products of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests (MASAF) has published the approval of the control plan on the typical Aosta Valley Fontina PDO cheese.

CSQA returns to carry out the task of control and certification , under the supervision of MASAF. of Italian quality on the territories, in particular of the Geographical Indication supply chains .

Strongly linked to the specific characteristics of the mountains and to production in the pastures, Fontina DOP can now count on a supply chain made up of 700 farms, 200 pastures and 162 associated producers , with a production of 400,000 wheels a year, 10% of which are destined for exports , for a production value of 34 million € .

A certified excellence that is essential to contribute to the growth of the quality chains of the Valle d'A0sta which, to date, has 5 PDO PGI agri-food and wine products . A heritage, according to the data of the Ismea-Qualivita 2021 Report, of 52 million euros , with the agri-food products sector accounting for 72% and the wine sector for 28%.

Among the most relevant elements of the new control plan which will be applied to all subjects of the regulated supply chain - breeders, processors and portioners/packers - there is an ad hoc communication system necessary to coordinate all the activities of the supply chain, including the collection notifications of mountain pastures, the management of product conformity authorizations and the verification of the branding of the wheels.

Important news also for the availability of Aosta Valley hay , for which a system will be set up to monitor company availability, while for mountain pasture companies , a specific and capillary management will be implemented linked to the distances of operators located at high altitudes, even up to 2,000 meters.

“After three years, by unanimous decision of the renewed Board of Directors, CSQA returns as Supervisory Body - underlines Andrea Barmaz, President of the Consortium of Producers and Protection of Fontina DOP - in conjunction with the request to amend the production specification which will be followed by the new plan of controls; we are therefore pleased to work again with an organization that already knows the Fontina DOP supply chain well”.

"The return of Fontina DOP among the geographical indications controlled by CSQA is a source of pride and confirmation of our long and articulated work, carried out over almost twenty years, on the front of the certification and enhancement of this Aosta Valley excellence" says Pietro Bonato, Director General and CEO of CSQA. “With the renewed trust of the Protection Consortium, our commitment to support the Fontina PDO supply chain continues through an effective certification and control activity that focuses on adapting actions to a diversified production chain, made up of both winter producers and summer producers, i.e. mountain pastures, many of these with houses even at high altitudes. We are also at work, together with the Consortium, to implement elements of innovation , linked not only to product quality, but also to sustainability issues".