The coffee of the Coffea arabica species from the Caparaó region, located on the border of the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, received the Geographical Indication (GI) registration. The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) recognized this Tuesday (February, 2nd) the product as GI, in the Denomination of Origin (DO) type.

The geographical area includes ten municipalities of Espírito Santo and six miners. In total, there are 16 municipalities: Dores do Rio Preto, Divino de São Lourenço, Guaçuí, Alegre, Muniz Freire, Ibitirama, Iúna, Irupi, Ibatiba and São José do Calçado, in Espírito Santo; Espera Feliz, Caparaó, Alto Caparaó, Manhumirim, Alto Jequitibá and Martins Soares, in Minas Gerais.

"The recognition is an achievement for producers and a possibility of adding value to the product and the region, promoting rural development and sustainability," emphasizes the coordinator of Geographical Indication of Agricultural Products of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Map) , Débora Gomide Santiago.

The work of structuring the IG for the registry had the participation of several institutions and, mainly, the involvement of producers. The Map was in charge of issuing the Official Instrument, one of the documents requested by the INPI for registration. In addition, since 2015 he has been working on the structuring of the IG.

For the coordinator, the Denomination of Origin (DO) certifies that the product has unique characteristics that are due to the geographical environment where it is produced, including natural and human factors.

At present, there are ten geographical indications for coffee registered in Brazil, seven of which are Indications of Origin (IP) and three are Denominations of Origin (DO).

The Geographical Indication (GI) is an instrument to recognize the geographical origin of a product or service. Therefore, it is given to products or services that are characteristic of their place of origin, that have an intrinsic value, an identity of their own, which distinguishes them from similar ones available on the market.

To date, Brazil has 76 registered National Geographical Indications, 61 of which are in the type of Indications of Origin (IP) and 15 with Denomination of Origin (DO).