French Quality and Ecolabelling Schemes 401products which result from farming systems that jointly produce environmental
goods, and (2) provide non-market or extra-market incentives for a multifunc-
tional agricultural system that enhances environmental quality.
The main objective of this chapter is to examine whether the production of
quality food was associated with the production of any environmental benefits.
The chosen study area is the Midi-Pyrenees region of south-west France, well-
known for the diversity of farming systems and the importance given to the pro-
motion of quality food schemes. Statistical analyses based upon data collected for
a random sample of 107 farms are conducted to identify correlations between
farms’ environmental scores and their level of participation in major ‘quality’ and
‘ecolabelling’ schemes in use. These results are complemented by qualitative results
drawn from in-depth case studies of five food quality schemes. Policy implications
are presented in the last section of the paper.
Quality and Ecolabelling Schemes Examined^1
One ‘ecolabel’ and three ‘quality’ categories were examined in this study. The eco-
label included in the study was Agriculture Biologique (AB), organic agriculture.
France officially recognised organic agriculture in 1980, and allowed farmers to
use the label ‘product made from organic agriculture’ and created public standards
to regulate the industry (MAAPAR, 2001). Although we refer here to the French
AB as an ‘ecolabel’, in reality, it has always been considered a regular food ‘quality’
label like others described below. Most French consumers think that the AB label
guarantees not only the non-use of chemical inputs, but also the taste and health
of the resulting food product (Loisiel and Couvreur, 2001; MAAPAR, 2004; Pujol
and Dron, 1998).
The different quality label categories included in the study are:
(1) The Official Sign of Quality (SOQ). SOQ products receive an official govern-
ment label that requires producers to follow specific guidelines for production
of the product. Included in this category are the Appellation d’Origine Con-
trôlée (AOC) and the Label Rouge (LR).^2 The French controlled origin label
was established in 1919 for the wine sector. It then spread to milk products
and, in 1990, to all other agricultural food products. The AOC label implies
more than horizontal differentiation; it also testifies that the product has been
produced from local raw products in a place-specific mode, and that its high
quality characteristics are the result of substantial long-term collective and indi-
vidual investments (Kilkenny and Daniel, 2001). The LR was created for prod-
ucts that possess specific characteristics and enjoy a superior level of quality that
distinguish them from other similar products (MAAPAR, 2001). It guarantees a
better taste and high standards of production, while the AOC guarantees prima-
rily the origin of the product. The LR is a nationwide structure that ties highly