The EU will contribute with €35.9 million of a total of €70.7 million to 20 programmes to promote agricultural products in the European Union and in third countries. The selected programmes cover fresh and processed fruit and vegetables, milk and milk products, PDOs (Protected Designations of Origin), PGIs (Protected Geographical Indications) and TSGs (Traditional Specialities Guaranteed), seed oil, wine and meat.

For promotion on the single market and in third countries, interested professional organisations can submit their proposals to Member States twice a year. The European Commission has now announced the 20 programmes selected on this occasion to promote agricultural products in the European Union and in third countries. In December 2011, Commission approved a funding of €30.1 million to promote EU agricultural products in third countries.

The total budget of the programmes, which will run for a period of three years, is €70.7 million of which the EU will contribute €35.9 million. The EU finances up to 50% of the cost of these measures (up to 60% in programmes promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables by children or concerning information on responsible drinking and the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption).

The measures financed can consist of public relations, promotional or publicity campaigns, in particular highlighting the advantages of EU products, especially in terms of quality, food safety and hygiene, nutrition, labelling, animal welfare or environmentally-friendly production methods. Besides, four of the selected programmes were proposed by more than one Member State, while third country programmes aim at the Chinese, Norwegian, Russian, Swiss, Ukrainian and the North American markets.