Stone Federation Great Britain are delighted to see that the campaign to extend the Geographical Indications (GI) protection to products including natural stone is gathering momentum. The legislation would prevent GI stone names being applied to man-made products and imports from outside these geographical areas.
At the end of 2014, the Federation rallied members to the cause, encouraging them to add their support to the proposal. The legislation would particularly affect members of the Stone Federation Quarry Forum that represents the UK quarrying member of the Federation. Included within this group are the quarries that source some of the stones that would most benefit from this protection including Portland Stone, Cotswold Limestone, York Stone, Bath Stone and Welsh Slate.
The Federation Chief Executive Jane Buxey said,
“This legislation is very significant for the natural stone industry as it would help to deal with the issue of man-made or imported stones misleading architects and specifiers through incorrectly labelling their materials. Britain is home to some world renowned natural stone with a fantastic local heritage and we support anything that would seek to protect this.”
For help ensuring that you select the right natural stone for your project or if you have any other queries, email us at enquiries@stonefed.org.uk
To read the article published on the European Parlaiment website, click here.
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Stone Federation Great Britain is the official trade association for the natural stone industry with over 100 years’ experience in connecting architects, designers, specifiers and clients with the finest stone professionals.
We are passionate about promoting natural stone as the building material of choice as well as positioning ourselves as the source for all things stone.
