The initiative is part of Albania’s industrial property reform and its commitments under the European Union integration process. The draft law was reviewed and approved by the relevant parliamentary committees in July and is expected to proceed to parliament.

The framework would establish rules for registering, challenging, amending and cancelling geographical indications, while defining producers’ rights and obligations, quality-control mechanisms and safeguards against unauthorised use of protected names.

It would also strengthen the role of producer groups, allowing them to jointly define a product’s characteristics, production methods and links to a specific territory. This could enable a protected name to represent not just an individual producer but a shared asset of the local community.

For Albanian producers, particularly small businesses and artisans, geographical indications could help differentiate products, strengthen their reputation and increase their added value, while limiting imitation or misuse of names by producers that do not meet the required territorial or production criteria.

The framework is aligned with EU Regulation 2023/2411, which established an EU-wide protection system for geographical indications covering craft and industrial products. For Albania, closer alignment with the EU framework would provide a clearer basis for protecting domestic products and preparing them for European markets.

Geographical indications could also support local economic development by linking products with regional traditions and promoting domestic production, cultural tourism and local economies.

However, registration alone does not guarantee commercial success. Economic benefits will also depend on compliance with production specifications, quality control, promotion, market standards and producers’ ability to turn a product’s reputation into a competitive advantage.

The new framework aims to give geographic origin a greater role in protecting industrial property, creating added value and strengthening the competitiveness of Albanian products at home and in European markets.

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On the Arberesh Day, an event taking place in the framework of the Diaspora Summit in Tirana, Princi said that Italy and the region of Calabria in particular have been a safe haven for the Arberesh community, an ethnic and linguistic Albanian minority.

“Italy has strong ties with Albania, because it is home of one of the largest Arberesh community for over five centuries. More than 60,000 Arberesh people live in 33 communes in Calabria region alone. The history of Calabria’s Arberesh community has an ancient origin and shows the drama of the Albanian refugees that fled their homeland to escape from the Turkish persecution in the end of 1400s. Italy, and Calabria in particular, have been a safe shelter for the Albanian communities to escape from religious repression launched by Turks back then,” she said.

However – Princi added – the Arberesh also represent an excellent and wonderful example of integration and tradition in Italy.

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