Question 23643 — commerce and crafts

Summary

Ms. Valérie Boyer draws the attention of the Minister of the Economy and Finance to the realization of the development of a protected geographical indication (PGI) for Marseille soap. It has been more than six years since the MP, elected for the 1st constituency of Bouches-du-Rhône, requested the establishment of IGPs. She drafted a bill (no. 684) in 2013 aimed at creating a system for recording indications geographical areas for industrial products. A proposal which was also included in the bill on consumption of March 18, 2014. This measure was born from the mobilization of elected officials and Marseille soap makers wishing to defend know-how, and an emblematic product: Marseille soap. It was intended to ensure legal protection for artisans but also to constitute a guarantee for consumers often deceived by an abundant and competitive market. In addition, the protection of the product should also be a guarantee of protection of numerous local jobs and part of our artisanal and industrial heritage. Indeed, Marseille soap is a product dear to the hearts of the people of Marseille and all of Provence because it constitutes part of its identity in France and abroad. Also, it deserves appropriate protection. Today, unfair competition from the soap and detergent industries is detrimental to traditional soap makers as well as to consumers who do not have adequate information regarding the soap they purchase under this name. Indeed, Marseille soap sees its name used by products that do not correspond to its composition and traditional manufacturing. These products, often in coming from abroad, sows confusion in the minds of consumers, especially since it is today very difficult to distinguish between original Marseille soap and industrial soaps. Some soaps can also be produced in France, and even in Provence, by companies importing soap granules manufactured abroad (most often in South-East Asia), and which simply transform them (addition of colorings, perfumes, chemical additives, etc.) and mold them here. These products are then labeled “Marseille soap” even though their manufacturing does not correspond to the technique followed for centuries. It is this same difference that exists between bakers who make their own bread and those who simply bake industrial dough. For Marseille soap, the geographical area must be limited to the Marseille region extended to the Bouches-du-Rhône department, which is its historic region. The absence of any legal protection over all these years largely explains the difficulties of the Marseille artisanal soap industry, which nevertheless constitutes an employment area in the region. The INPI (National Institute of Industrial Property) must today ensure that the “perimeter of the zone or place” makes it possible to guarantee that the product concerned actually has a quality and a reputation which can be attributed to the specific place associated with the geographical indication. In order to obtain the IGP, three associations (the Union of Marseille Soap Professionals (UPSM), the Association of Marseille Soap Manufacturers (AFSM) and the Marseille France Savon Association (ASDMF)) defend different visions and have submitted their file to the INPI. However, they are still waiting for him to speak out. The UPSM, which includes the Fer à Cheval, Le Sérail, du Midi and Marius Fabre soap factories, believes that a Marseille soap must be made using the traditional ancestral process, with vegetable raw materials and in Bouches-du-Rhône. AFSM is based on a slightly larger territory, Provence, with a vegetable-based Marseille soap and a manufacturing process that can be modern but “ecological”. Finally, the ASDMF wishes to have a name “Marseille soap” according to a manufacturing process and not according to a geographical area. The specifications to which producers must comply to obtain the IGP have existed since the Colbert edict of 1688 and define the conditions for manufacturing soap in Provence without any animal fat. However, it is essential to extend these criteria in order to protect against the numerous counterfeits that are flooding the market. Marseille soap is a recipe and a region, it is part of the Marseille and Provençal heritage. It is these essential criteria which characterize traditional Marseille soap. Also, it is important that the INPI can make a decision quickly in order to best protect this emblematic Marseille product, the industry and the consumer. She would therefore like know his intentions on this subject.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

1. 2 March 2020

   Réponse

   Le ministre de l'économie et des finances est très attaché à la protection des produits emblématiques des savoir-faire français dont les appellations sont trop souvent sujettes à contrefaçon. Le savon de Marseille, dont la renommée est mondiale, en fait bien évidemment partie. L'instruction des demandes d'homologation déposées par trois associations auprès de l'Institut national de la propriété industrielle (INPI) pour une indication géographique « savon de Marseille » a été retardée par la difficulté de certaines entreprises à s'entendre sur un projet commun d'une part, et par des procédures contentieuses d'autre part. En tout état de cause, seule une demande répondant aux critères fixés par la loi serait de nature à être homologuée. Au regard de article L721-2 du code de la propriété intellectuelle, « constitue une indication géographique la dénomination d'une zone géographique ou d'un lieu déterminé servant à désigner un produit, autre qu'agricole, forestier, alimentaire ou de la mer, qui en est originaire et qui possède une qualité déterminée, une réputation ou d'autres caractéristiques qui peuvent être attribuées essentiellement à cette origine géographique. Les conditions de production ou de transformation de ce produit, telles que la découpe, l'extraction ou la fabrication, respectent un cahier des charges homologué par décision prise en application de article L. 411-4. »

   Source: DateReponse

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

• Valérie Boyer · auteur

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.