Montenegro protected its first product, surely you can guess what it is

"Njegus ham" is first product from Montenegro which is protected by national legislation as a mark of quality.

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As reported on the website of the Montenegrin Ministry of Agriculture, the protection procedure was initiated in cooperation with the Ministry of resources and realized by Association of ham producers in Cetinje.

The first protected product for Montenegro presents significant step on the way of protecting small manufacturers and traditional methods of production, as well as protection from abuse and imitations in food production sector.

A product that will carry the trademark of "Njegus ham" is defined as cured meat product made from pork chop without the leg, with bones, skin and subcutaneous fat tissue without pelvic bones, dry salted with sea salt, slowly smoked on beech wood and subjected to a process of drying and ripening for at least nine months.

Foto: pixabay.com

According to the manufacturer's specification, the product can be labeled as "Njegus ham" and it can be produced on the territory Njegus.

Within Njegus there are following villages: Dugi do, Erakovici, Raicevici, Kopito, Vrba, Mali and Velji Zalazi, Zanjev do, Mirac and Majstori, as well as Bukovica, Podi, Velji kraj, Cavori and Krstac.

Njegus ham has long reputation on Montenegrin and other markets. The protection of this name as a geographic mark has been initiated for the first time in Federal Institute of Intellectual Property of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

As added, intensive efforts were made to educate manufacturers to quickly adopt the new skills and prepare for new forms of protection.

Association of ham producers in Cetinje officially on 29 February this year launched a procedure to protect the title, they submitted a request for the registration to the Ministry of Agriculture and rural development.

Foto: pixabay.com

A difficult procedure followed of reviewing compliance with the Act of designations of origin, geographical markings and tags of traditional specialties guaranteed for agricultural products and foodstuffs, said in the statement.

After a positive assessment of the Ministry, the request and Manufacturer specification of "Njegus Ham" were published in the Official Journal in October.

In the process of protection, the most difficult part is writing the appropriate product specifications because the document describes in detail the product and method of production.

This must be a product that has a proven reputation and history, and specificity of the product should be conditional on the geographical environment, skills and proven traditional methods of production.

(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)