History of the AOC registration

The time until an AOC label is granted largely depends on the circumstances, the willingness of the parties involved and the capacity of the appropriate authorities.

On 15 December 1998, the Delegate Assembly of the TÊTE DE MOINE Interprofession submitted its application for registration. On 11 February 1999, the authorities in the Canton of Jura asked the Office of Agriculture to include the District of Porrentruy in the protected designation of origin. On 17 May 1999, there was an initial discussion with the member of the commission responsible for the registration dossier at which various open questions were discussed and taken on board by the Interprofession for further clarification. The responses were discussed by the administrative board and, on 16 June 1999, passed on to those responsible so that they could be submitted to the commission session on 2 July 1999. On 15 October 1999 the Interprofession was officially informed by the Office of Agriculture that the commission was to propose that the registration be approved, with the proviso that certain points receive further attention. At the Interprofession board meeting on 17 November 1999, the amended dossier was approved and submitted to the Office of Agriculture.

On 6 April 2000, the dossier, with further revisions, was resubmitted to the relevant Federal departments and cantons. At a meeting between the Federal Office of Agriculture, the Interprofession and the Canton of Jura, it was made clear that the differences with the Canton of Jura had to be sorted out before publication could go ahead. On 26 July 2000, the board of Interprofession rather reluctantly worked out a second compromise. On 14 September 2000, after lengthy negotiations between the Interprofession and the Canton of Jura, the Delegate Assembly approved a new definition of the designated zones, thereby arriving at a compromise which also had the backing of the Canton of Jura. The Interprofession was able to notify the Department of Agriculture that the "approval for print" for the printed version of the registration dossier had been given on 6 November 2000.

On 19 January 2001, the Federal Department of Agriculture published application for registration of the protected designation of origin for TÊTE DE MOINE, Bellelay cheese in the Swiss Official Trade Journal. Since no objections were raised within the statutory deadline of three months, the final registration for TÊTE DE MOINE, Bellelay cheese could be granted.