Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
Date: 2026-01-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, meat product, poultry, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_202600422EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/422


22.1.2026






Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
(C/2026/422)

Following this publication, the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest and established or resident in a third country, may lodge, in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) an opposition with the Commission within three months from the date of this publication.
SINGLE DOCUMENT


                     ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’
                  


EU No: PGI-FR-03230 – 30.4.2024
                  


PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name


               ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’
            
2.   Member State or third country

France
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

Combined Nomenclature code

16 – PREPARATIONS OF MEAT, OF FISH, OF CRUSTACEANS, MOLLUSCS OR OTHER AQUATIC INVERTEBRATES, OR OF INSECTS
3.2.   Description of the product to which the name in (1) refers


                  ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is made by cooking – exclusively in goose fat – legs and/or wings (defined as the drumette and the breast joined together) which have been dry-salted.
The confit process involves gentle cooking in a pot without the use of pressure, which allows the water in the cuts of meat to evaporate. The cooking fat then slowly soaks into the meat, without browning it. The amount of meat juice exuded is thereby less than 8 %.
The confit process also allows the original shape of the confit legs and wings to be preserved.
The confit legs and wings are packaged in the goose fat from the confit process.

                  ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is marketed in pasteurised, canned, chilled or deep-frozen form.
Upon opening, the packaging:






—


does not contain more than:






—


8 % jelly and meat juice by mass in relation to the total net mass (in the case of canned products);










—


1 % bone splinters by mass in relation to the total net mass;














—


the legs and wings are whole with the skin covering the muscles;










—


the colour of the fat varies from white to yellow, with no signs of rancidity.




3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)


                  ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is made solely from the following cuts of ‘Oie du Sud-Ouest’ PGI geese: wings and/or legs. These cuts have a high fat content resulting from a specific method of rearing and feeding the geese, which involves a gradual process of fattening by force-feeding.

                  ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is made solely from cuts of ‘Oie du Sud-Ouest’ PGI geese.
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area


                  ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is made and packaged and undergoes heat stabilisation in the geographical area.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

Packaging in the geographical area is an integral part of the process of making the confit, as these products must be stabilised after packaging (refrigeration, pasteurisation, sterilisation or deep-freezing). Subjecting the ‘Oie du Sud-Ouest’ legs and wings to the confit process in fat, together with their high fat content (high fat content), makes them susceptible to oxidation by air contact. This oxidation can cause the confit to turn rancid, affecting its quality.
Packaging ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ in the geographical area makes it possible to maintain its quality and makes it easier to trace and inspect.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

In addition to the compulsory information provided for by legislation on the labelling and presentation of foodstuffs, labels must include the following:






—


the European Union PGI logo;










—


the name ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ supplemented by the name of the following anatomical part(s): ‘Cuisses’ [legs], ‘Ailes’ [wings], ‘Cuisses et ailes’ [legs and wings] or ‘Ailes et cuisses’ [wings and legs].




The name ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ and the name of the anatomical parts are written in the same font size, type and style.
An additional geographical indication may be used for goose confit made from raw legs and/or wings of geese bearing the same additional geographical indication and processed in the corresponding area:






—


it must be placed above or below the name ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’, without any other element separating them;










—


it must be written entirely in upper case;










—


the letters must be the same height and in the same font style as the name ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’.




The indication ‘Oies élevées et préparées dans le Sud-Ouest’ [geese reared and prepared in the South-West] is also permitted. This indication may be made more precise by replacing the term ‘Sud-Ouest’ with an additional geographical indication for goose confit made from raw legs and/or wings of geese bearing the same additional geographical indication and processed in the corresponding area:






—



                        ‘Oies élevées et préparées dans le Gers’ [geese reared and prepared in Gers];










—



                        ‘Oies élevées et préparées dans les Landes’ [geese reared and prepared in Landes];










—



                        ‘Oies élevées et préparées en Périgord’ [geese reared and prepared in Périgord];










—



                        ‘Oies élevées et préparées en Quercy’ [geese reared and prepared in Quercy].




Only the geographical name (‘Sud-Ouest’), possibly supplemented by additional geographical indications (‘Gers’, ‘Landes’, ‘Périgord’ or ‘Quercy’), may appear on the labelling. Aside from references to national origin and the address block, any indication of provenance on the labelling is forbidden.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area comprises the following departments and municipalities:






 


Nouvelle-Aquitaine region: the departments of Corrèze, Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques;










 


the following municipalities in the department of Haute-Vienne: Bussière-Galant, Les Cars, Le Chalard, Châlus, La Chapelle-Montbrandeix, Coussac-Bonneval, Dournazac, Flavignac, Glandon, Ladignac-le-Long, Lavignac, Maisonnais-sur-Tardoire, Marval, Pageas, Pensol, Saint-Mathieu and Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche.










 


Occitanie region: the departments of Ariège, Aveyron, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Lot, Hautes-Pyrénées, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne;










 


the following municipalities in the department of Aube: Airoux, Baraigne, Belflou, Belpech, Les Brunels, Cahuzac, Carlipa, Les Cassés, Castelnaudary, Cenne-Monestiés, Cumiès, Fajac-la-Relenque, Fendeille, Gourvieille, Issel, Labastide-d’Anjou, Labécède-Lauragais, Lafage, Lasbordes, Laurabuc, La Louvière-Lauragais, Marquein, Mas-Saintes-Puelles, Mayreville, Mézerville, Mireval-Lauragais, Molandier, Molleville, Montauriol, Montferrand, Montmaur, Payra-sur-l’Hers, Pécharic-et-le-Py, Pech-Luna, Pexiora, Peyrefitte-sur-l’Hers, Peyrens, Plaigne, La Pomarède, Puginier, Ricaud, Saint-Amans, Sainte-Camelle, Saint-Martin-Lalande, Saint-Michel-de-Lanès, Saint-Papoul, Saint-Paulet, Saint-Sernin, Salles-sur-l’Hers, Souilhanels, Souilhe, Soupex, Tréville, Verdun-en-Lauragais, Villautou, Villemagne, Villeneuve-la-Comptal, Villepinte and Villespy.




5.   Link with the geographical area

The link to the origin of ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is based on its reputation, which stems from the recognition given to the gastronomy of the South-West region, of which the product is a hallmark. ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is a classic product of the rural circular economy: ‘Goose replaced pork in many homes and, with its meat and fat, provided a sizeable culinary addition to farms and urban households’ (Vie à la Campagne [Life in the countryside], 14 April 1929, ‘Races d’oies pour le foie, la chair et la graisse’ [Goose breeds for liver, meat and fat]). Confit allows the meat to be preserved and is an integral part of meat reserves. It is set apart by the specific nature of the cuts used and the know-how used to prepare and cook them, namely the confit process.
The geographical area corresponds overall to the geological structure of the Aquitaine Basin, which occupies much of South-West France. It is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Pyrenees mountain range, to the east by a line between the Massif Central and the city of Castelnaudary and to the north by the administrative boundaries of the departments of Gironde and Dordogne.
It is characterised by a succession of plains, slopes and plateaux suitable for cultivation, alternating between areas of meadows and grassland or of forest and heathland, alongside arable land. It also has large areas of meadowland dotted with pools and ponds and irrigated by numerous watercourses.
With its broad exposure to the Atlantic Ocean, the geographical area has a temperate maritime climate with mild temperatures and average precipitation of more than 900 mm, evenly distributed throughout the year.
In the South-West, the rearing of waterfowl in general and geese in particular developed as early as the Middle Ages as part of the traditional system of mixed crop farming and animal rearing.
The introduction of maize into the region during the 17th century revolutionised the rearing of farmyard poultry.
Since the Middle Ages, rural life in the South-West has been dominated by smallholdings and sharecropping. Since that time, the presence of waterfowl fattened in the farmyard has been a characteristic feature of farms in the South-West.
Rearing waterfowl would become an important means of providing food for farmers and their families.
From the 17th century onwards, goose production on farms in the South-West included the development of a specific method of preserving the cuts of goose meat by cooking them in goose fat: confit. The skills in confit as described in the 18th century are still practised today. Salting is done exclusively using dry salt and is followed by a curing period before cooking.

               ‘The whole is cut into four quarters, each making one wing or one leg. They are lightly salted and left to absorb the salt for two days: they are then cooked in a pot with the fat of the same geese.’ (L’agronome, dictionnaire portatif du cultivateur, T2 1764, P. A. Alletz).
Once cooked, the cuts are drained, placed in packaging and re-covered with softened goose fat to protect them from oxidation. This process is known as jutage.

               ‘The limbs of the geese are kept in stoneware jars, covered with a thick white layer of fat supplied by the bird itself. This is confit.’
               Le commerce des oies gasconnes [Trade in Gasconne geese] by P. Joseph Lacoste – Le Figaro, 1924.
Confit is a typical product of the South-West.
Interestingly, production for home consumption in the South-West was until recently as important as production for sale (see 1968 agricultural statistics: 3 230 tonnes of fattened geese without liver were produced for family consumption, compared with 3 415 tonnes for sale).
The South-West is a collection of renowned traditional regions such as Périgord, Landes, Gers and Quercy. It is known for its specific preparations involving fattened goose. With the development of preservation techniques and the growth of the metallurgical industry towards the end of the 19th century, which was based on the manufacturing and trading of tin cans, confit found new markets outside the South-West. Those whose profession it is to process meat into confit were known as ‘preservers’.
The specific nature of ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ lies in the high fat content of ‘Oie du Sud-Ouest’ meat, which is the result of a specific rearing and feeding method involving a gradual process of fattening the geese by force-feeding.
Finishing ‘Oie du Sud-Ouest’ legs and wings in this traditional way makes it possible to obtain the quantity of fat needed to apply the confit process to the cuts of meat.
The confit process involves gently cooking the goose legs and wings, previously dry-salted, in a pot. This cooking process requires true knowledge and know-how, and is performed without the use of pressure, allowing the water in the cuts of meat to evaporate. The cooking fat then slowly soaks into the meat, without browning it. The confit process also allows the original shape of the confit legs and wings to be preserved.
The climate in the South-West, with its mild temperatures and regular rainfall, provides the ideal conditions for keeping geese in the open air.
Maize cultivation has enabled farmers to develop technical know-how based on the concentrated distribution of this cereal and the gradual process of fattening the geese by force-feeding. This means of rearing makes it possible to produce well-developed animals with high fat content.
The high fat content makes it possible to apply the confit process and preserve the goose meat in its own fat.

               ‘Properly fattened Oie du Sud-Ouest carcasses, with a meat-to-fat ratio that allows the former to be fully covered by the latter during cooking; it has never been necessary to add any fat other than that supplied by the birds themselves in order to perfectly confit them.’ (F. Duhart, De confit en foie gras [From confit to foie gras], 2009).
The reputation of ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ has developed as a result of improvements in preservation techniques and expansion of transport options that have enabled the development of regional, national and international marketing channels.
In her 1977 work Le confit et son rôle dans l’alimentation traditionnelle du Sud-Ouest [Confit and its role in the traditional food of the South-West], Renée Valéri notes that Leméry, in his Traité des aliments de 1755 [Treatise on food of 1755], describes confit in the same way as it is made today, and highlights that in the 18th century, trade in fattened geese and salted meat was significant in the South-West; as for confit itself, she states that by the middle of the 18th century it had already become so common that it was the subject of quite considerable trade and was becoming known throughout France. She also points out that the preparation in the South-West to which the name ‘confit’ is given – namely tins containing cuts of meat in their own fat – has no parallel in France, nor is it known in other regions of Europe.
In ‘Voyage à travers le temps. L’oie du Sud-Ouest entre mémoire et histoire, XVIe-XXIe siècles’ [Voyage through time. The goose of the South-West between memory and history, 16th-21st century] (Annales de l’Académie Polonaise des Sciences [Annals of the Polish Academy of Sciences], vol. 18, 2016) C. Marache and P. Meyzie explain that for confit, ‘these commercial channels, which help to spread and enhance the value of legs of Oie du Sud-Ouest on a grand scale, are complemented by private and political networks. For example, goose legs are often given as gifts.’
            

Le lexique culinaire de Ferrandi [The culinary lexicon of Ferrandi] (Flammarion, 2016) describes it as a ‘traditional dish of the South-West’.
In the 19th century, the reputation of ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ grew beyond the South-West and France, with exports to England, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, the Hanseatic cities and even North America, as confirmed by J. De Brevans in Le pain et la viande [Bread and meat], ed. J-B. Baillère et fils, Paris, 1892: ‘This preserve often replaces salted pork and lard, making it a fairly large export to England, Belgium, Holland, Prussia and North America.’
            

               ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ is a dish that can be eaten simply as it is (heated and with a side dish), as stated by the Cornet brothers in Carrément à l’ouest [Straight to the west] (Editions Stock, 2017): ‘Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest accompanied by “Natal” potatoes lightly browned in the fat of the same goose.’
            
It is also an ingredient of choice for regional dishes such as garbure, a stew for which the recipe can be found in the book Les recipes incontournables de la cuisine familiale française [Classic recipes from French home-cooking]: ‘as garbure is a traditional dish of Béarn, we recommend you use Tarbais beans and Confit d’oie du Sud-Ouest’ (Anthony Poujouanine and Isabelle Jervaise, 2020, p. 16).

Reference to publication of the product specification


https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-faa7353a-ed63-4164-92d8-de320eae7eca



(1)  Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, as well as traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2019/787 and (EU) 2019/1753 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (OJ L, 2024/1143, 23.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1143/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/422/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)