FIGHT TO SAVE CIDER BRANDY CONTINUES

1.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 24th Jan 2008

Commenting on Hilary Benn's recent rubber-stamping of the new EU spirits regulations which threaten the use of the historic name 'cider brandy', local Euro-MP Liz Lynne said:

"It is a great shame that the minister chose only to 'draw attention to' the problem of cider brandy's omission in the new regulation at the Council of Ministers' meeting. He could have used it as a platform to protect one of the region's oldest known drinks.

"However I am pleased to note that our local distiller in Hereford is in the process of applying for protected geographical status. If approved this could, ironically, protect the drink better than before, preventing imitations being produced elsewhere.

"This would be the ideal way out of this muddle and secure cider brandy's future. I wish the distillery all the best with their application and will help, wherever I can, to ensure its success."

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The name cider brandy was omitted from new EU spirits regulations after lobbying from brandy producers, who felt that brandy should always be grape-based. As the legislation stands, products presently marketed as "cider brandy" may stay on the market with an unchanged recipe but shall bear the sales denomination "cider spirit" after a transitional period of 15 months.

Once alerted, Liz Lynne raised the issue as a priority written question in the European Parliament on the 27th of September, but by then it was already too late to stop the new legislation going to the European Council of Ministers for final approval.

However when producers met with the European Commission in December, it emerged that protected geographical status could be applied for, offering a way round the new legislation and giving the name and drink more protection than before, if the application were successful.

More information on the local producer, the Hereford Cider Museum Trust, can be found at: http://www.cidermuseum.co.uk

More information on protecting specialist regional foods can be found via the following link: http://www.foodfrombritain.com/buyersguide/documents/Defra_protected_food_names_guidance.pdf

Across seven EU member states, including the UK, it is estimated that geographical indicators for food and drink add a total value of around £3.5 billion a year.