County head Valter Flego said the agreement was the first example of successfully handling the protection of a product through cross-border cooperation.
He said the agreement underscored the importance and the fact that Istrian prosciutto belonged to territory and not states. "The whole procedure is very important for the protection of Istrian prosciutto as an autochtonous product and the final designation of origin will increase its availability and recognisability on the market."
The Croatian Agriculture Ministry has sent the documentation on the agreement to the European Commission for verification and registration on the European Union level until a decision is adopted to protect the Istrian prosciutto name with a designation of origin which would be bilingual, in Croatian and Slovenian, reading "Istarski prsut/Istrski prsut".
Asked by the press if Croatia and Slovenia would reach a compromise on the protection of the teran wine, Flego voiced confidence that an agreement would be reached.