Netherlands drom nut from its register of plant varieties

The Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy announced that The Netherlands officially cancelled "Tonda gentile delle Langhe" hazelnuts from its register of plant varieties, which they had been part of since 2012. The result was achieved also thanks to the letter sent in December by Minister Maurizio Martina and to the work carried out by the Ministry with the help of Vice Minister Andrea Olivero.

"I would like to thank Minister Martijn van Dam for taking care of this, it will truly help our producers. Hazelnuts are one of the products that characterise the Langhe area and we need to safeguard them."

"Our team work has provided excellent results. We have simplified and discussed technical aspects as well, now we have to strengthen our tools to promote hazelnuts from Piedmont. I also hope people will stop stirring controversies as they only generate more confusion. The Ministry will continue to safeguard and promote high-quality productions."

Actions to safeguard Nocciola Tonda gentile
Over the past few months, the Ministry worked to simplify the regulations regarding "Tonda gentile" hazelnuts.

After discussing things with Regione Piemonte, producers and the chain, Mipaaf decided to accept the "Tonda Gentilde delle Langhe" and "Tonda trilobala" synonyms. It's fundamental to include them, otherwise any other nation in the world could register the variety.

Thanks to this simplification, any of the three productions can be recognised as Nocciola Piemonte IGP.

In addition, it was also decided to eliminate "delle Langhe" for plants on sale and to only leave it as a synonym on the register.