Division 4.4 Proof of origin

The dairy herd’s basic feed must come from the natural pastures of the delimited area. Only milk meeting that criterion may enter the processing plants. Every milk producer, processing plant and maturing plant fills in a ‘declaration of aptitude’, which is registered with the INAO. Each operator must provide the INAO with a list of the operators in the production chain he has dealings with and any documents required for checking the origin, quality and production conditions of the milk and cheese. A yellow casein plate is used to identify the cheese. It is affixed at the time of production to the side of each cheese. The day and month of production are indicated. On the drum’s label the identification of the maturing plant appears clearly (name or business name and address). Each undertaking, on a plant-specific basis, where appropriate, must return each month, duly completed, a statistical information sheet required by the ‘Syndicat interprofessionnel de défense du Morbier’ relating to the production and marketing of the ‘Morbier’ AOC (French ‘controlled designation of origin’) cheese.

As part of the checks carried out on the specified features of the designation of origin, an analytical and organoleptic test is conducted to ensure that the products submitted for examination are of high quality and possess the requisite typical characteristics.