Publication of the communication of an approved standard amendment to a product specification of a geographical indication in accordance with Article 5(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27
Date: 2026-04-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France, blue-veined cheese, consumer information, cows’ milk cheese, designation of origin, labelling, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_202602145EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/2145


16.4.2026






Publication of the communication of an approved standard amendment to a product specification of a geographical indication in accordance with Article 5(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27 (1)

(C/2026/2145)

COMMUNICATION OF APPROVAL OF A STANDARD AMENDMENT

(Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143)


‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’


EU reference number: PDO-FR-0077-AM03 – 20.1.2026
                  

1.   Name of product

‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’
2.   Geographical indication type







☑


PDO










☐


PGI










☐


GI




3.   Sector







☑


Agricultural products










☐


Wines










☐


Spirit drinks




4.   Country to which the geographical area belongs

France
5.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment


Name

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
6.   Qualification as standard amendment

The application for amendment to the ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ PDO does not involve any of the three situations constituting a Union amendment; specifically, it does not:






(a)


involve a change in the name of the protected designation of origin / protected geographical indication;










(b)


risk voiding the link to the geographical area;










(c)


entail further restrictions on the marketing of the product.




The French authorities therefore consider that the application is for a ‘standard’ amendment.
7.   Description of the approved standard amendment(s)


Title

Responsible department in the Member State

Description

The contact details of the National Institute of Origin and Quality (Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité, INAO) have been updated.






☐


The amendment affects the single document.





Title

Applicant group

Description

The contact details of the applicant group have been updated.
The product category has been deleted.






☐


The amendment affects the single document.





Title

Product description

Description

The limit values for the weight of the product have been amended:






—


the minimum limit value has been reduced from 4 kg to 3,8 kg;










—


the maximum limit value has been increased from 4,5 kg to 5 kg.




There have been many instances of cheeses not complying with the limit values for weight, which has led to a significant downgrading of these products and had an economic impact on the sector.
The ideal range of weights has therefore been evaluated in order to keep the sector in economic equilibrium and avoid any instances of non-compliance. Studies on the volumes and weights of cheese have also been carried out, to ensure that the cheeses comply with the proposed limit values for weight and with the sizes laid down in the product specification. For these reasons, it is proposed to amend the weight of the cheese to values of between 3,8 kg and 5 kg.






☑


The amendment affects the single document.





Title

Demarcation of the geographical area

Description

The list of municipalities has been updated on the basis of the 2025 Official Geographic Code, without modifying the boundaries of the geographical area.






☑


The amendment affects the single document.





Title

References to the inspection body

Description

The contact details of the responsible department of the Member State and the information on the inspection bodies have been updated.






☐


The amendment affects the single document.





Title

Specific labelling elements

Description

It has been added that the information that must be included on the labelling as listed in the product specification is ‘in addition to the mandatory information required by the rules on the labelling and presentation of foodstuffs’.
The name of the designation and the PDO symbol of the European Union must now be ‘in the same visual field’.






☑


The amendment affects the single document.




SINGLE DOCUMENT

Designations of origin and geographical indications of agricultural products


‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’


EU reference number: PDO-FR-0077-AM03 – 20.1.2026
                  

1.   Name(s)

‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’
2.   Geographical indication type







☑


PDO










☐


PGI










☐


GI




3.   Country to which the defined geographical area belongs

France
4.   Description of the agricultural product

4.1.   Classification of the agricultural product in accordance with the Combined Nomenclature heading and code, as referred to in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143


                  0406  – Cheese and curd
4.2.   Description of the agricultural product to which the registered name applies

‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ is an unpressed, uncooked, blue-veined cheese.
It is made from raw or thermised cow’s milk, which may be partly skimmed. In the case of farm-based processing, only raw milk is used.
It comes in the shape of flat cylinders 27 to 30 cm in diameter, 7 to 9 cm high, and convex on the outside. It weighs between 3,8 and 5 kg. Its rind presents a fine, white to grey-blue, mould-type bloom that may have orange to ivory-coloured marbling of the kind caused by yeasts and bacteria active in the ripening process.
‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ is an ivory to light yellow-coloured, creamy and homogeneous cheese with well-distributed blue veins. The body of the cheese has openings of less than 1 cm2, of various shapes, distributed throughout the cheese.
It has the taste of a mild blue cheese, with no excess bitterness, acidity or saltiness. It is also characterised by a slight taste of hazelnut and a scent of undergrowth.
The cheese contains a minimum of 48 g of fat per 100 g of cheese after total desiccation, and its dry matter content must not be less than 52 g per 100 g of cheese.
It can be sold only after 21 days of ripening, starting from the date of renneting.
4.3.   Derogations on sourcing of feed (for products of animal origin designated by a protected designation of origin only) and restrictions on sourcing of raw materials (for processed products designated by a protected geographical indication only)


Origin of the feed

At least 75 % of the dairy cows’ intake in dry matter comes from the geographical area.
Fodder may come from the geographical area only.
Complementary feed is limited to 1 800 kg of dry matter per dairy cow per year, accounting for not more than 25 % of the dairy cows’ annual intake in dry matter. Not all this complementary feed comes from the geographical area, due to the mountainous conditions, which severely limit the production of cereals and oil and protein crops.

Permitted feed

The dairy cows’ basic diet is fodder (pasture grass, hay or baled grass). Any other fermented feed is forbidden.
When grass is available, grazing is mandatory for the dairy cows as soon as the weather allows. The minimum duration of grazing is 150 days a year. Each dairy cow must have an average of at least 0,3 hectares of permanent grassland on which to graze during the grazing period.
Baled grass (which has a dry matter content of at least 50 %) accounts for not more than 40 % in raw matter of the fodder given to the dairy herd over the space of a year.
Only the following raw materials are authorised in the complementary feed of dairy cows: cereal grains and their dehydrated products and by-products that have not been treated with soda; dry-preserved corn cobs, consisting of at least 60 % dry matter; grains and by-products of oilseeds and protein crops; dehydrated lucerne and sainfoin, without the addition of urea.
The following are authorised to account for up to 10 % of the complementary feed referred to above: dehydrated beet pulp, without the addition of urea; whey from the farm; molasses and vegetable oils (except for palm oil); mineral elements, bicarbonate, salt, essential oils and natural plant extracts. The use of urea is forbidden.
Plants, by-products and complementary feed from GMO-labelled products are forbidden in the feed of the farm’s dairy herd.

Raw materials

The milk used is raw or thermised cow’s milk, without the addition or withdrawal of protein or fat, although there may be partial skimming, from herds made up of cows of the Montbéliard, Abondance and Villard-de-Lans breeds. In the case of farm-based processing, only raw milk is used.
4.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

The milk is produced and the cheese manufactured and ripened in the geographical area.
4.5.   Specific rules concerning packaging, slicing, grating, etc. of the agricultural product the registered name refers to

‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ may be presented to consumers in portions.
4.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the agricultural product the registered name refers to

In addition to the mandatory information required by the rules on the labelling and presentation of foodstuffs, the labelling must display the registered name of the product and the European Union PDO logo in the same visual field.
The name of the designation of origin ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ must appear in characters at least two thirds the size of the largest characters used on the label.
4.7.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ PDO is produced within the Vercors Massif, in 13 municipalities in the Drôme department and 13 municipalities in the Isère department, corresponding to the following municipalities according to the 2025 Official Geographic Code:
Drôme department:
Municipalities completely covered by the geographical area: (Le) Chaffal, (La) Chapelle-en-Vercors, Echevis, Léoncel, Omblèze, Plan-de-Baix, Saint-Agnan-en-Vercors, Saint-Julien-en-Vercors, Saint-Martin-en-Vercors, Vassieux-en-Vercors The following municipalities in part: Bouvante, Saint-Jean-en-Royans, Saint-Laurent-en-Royans
Isère department:
Municipalities completely covered by the geographical area: Autrans-Méaudre-en-Vercors, Chatelus, Choranche, Corrençon-en-Vercors, Engins, Lans-en-Vercors, Malleval-en-Vercors, Presles, Rencurel, Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte, Villard-de-Lans The following municipalities in part: Izeron, Saint-Pierre-de-Chérennes
5.   Link with the geographical area


Summary of the link

‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ is a cheese made from cow’s milk with organoleptic characteristics linked to the particular conditions of the natural environment of the Vercors – whose grassland is rich in flora, producing a type of milk suited to cheese-making – and the traditional methods for transforming the milk into a blue-veined cheese.
Lying at an altitude of some 1 000 m, the Vercors is the largest subalpine karst massif of the northern French Pre-Alps. Situated to the west of Grenoble, it is enclosed by the Isère valley, the Valence plain, and the Drôme and Drac valleys.
The geographical area encompasses the upper sections of the Vercors, which are bounded by Urgonian limestone cliffs. The Massif is a vast, undulating, high-altitude plateau: access is via gorges and has long been difficult, helping the Massif to preserve its identity and specific characteristics.
The landscape of the Vercors is also marked by glacial activity dating back to ancient times. It is characterised by long, cradle-shaped humid valleys and cirques and closed coombs overlooked by cliffs.
The soil of the mountains, with their limestone outcrops, is shallow and can only support dry open woodland or dry grassland. At the bottom of the valleys and slopes, the soil consists of sand and clayey gravel formed from glacial activity, as well as clay resulting from the decalcification of the Urgonian limestone. This is where most of the hay meadows and grassland of the Vercors are found.
The Vercors has a mountain climate: summers are short, it is always cool at night, autumn comes early, while winters are long, cold and snowy, albeit softened by the mitigating effects of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Precipitation is significant: some 1 000 mm to 1 700 mm of rain or snow per year, spread relatively evenly over the year.
Agriculture in the Vercors revolves around extensive mountain farming, based mainly on the utilisation of the grassland, the main types of production being dairy cattle farming (on one out of every two farms), suckling cattle farming, sheep farming, and to a lesser extent cereal production, mainly for feed.
As regards human factors, evidence of this cheese being made in the Vercors Massif goes back to the 14th century.
The part of the geographical area situated in the Isère department was once known as the ‘Sassenage Mountains’.
Over time, the region came to be known as the ‘Vercors’, as a continuation of the Vercors of the Drôme department. The merging of the two geographical names corresponds to the historical evolution of the two former regions that formed the Massif.
In the 14th century, the Lord of Sassenage, who was the owner of the four parishes of Lans-en-Vercors, Villard-de-Lans, Méaudre and Autrans, collected the cheese as a tax and sold it in Sassenage.
That is how ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ started to become known outside its geographical area and was widely traded over the centuries both in France and abroad.
Traditional farm-based production of the cheese continued until the early 20th century, when it went into decline as a result of competition from dairies. In 1933, Mr Léonard Mestrallet, director of the dairy cooperative of Villard, began making ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ following the traditional recipe. He expanded production and began selling it in Grenoble and St Etienne. This marked a resumption in farm-based production of the cheese.
To this day, the milk is produced and transformed into ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ according to traditional practices.
Production of the milk is based on a grazing system that makes the most of the rich flora of the Vercors, with mandatory grazing for the cows as soon as the weather allows. The animals’ basic diet consists solely of grass from the geographical area.
Originally, milk production was mainly based on the local cattle breed ‘Villard-de-Lans’, which was well-suited to this difficult environment. Having practically disappeared in the 1970s, the breed is now the subject of a preservation and revival programme. It was joined by other breeds suited to the mountainous climate conditions in the 1950s: the ‘Montbéliard’ and ‘Abondance’ breeds.
The characteristic production techniques for ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ are the following:






—


warm maturation, including sowing with mostly thermophilic fermenting agents and Penicillium roqueforti, followed by renneting;










—


cutting the curd into hazelnut to walnut-sized grains;










—


stirring the grains, interspersed with periods of rest;










—


moulding without pressing, and salting on both sides of the cheese;










—


during the ripening phase, turning over and piercing the cheese and storage under cool, humid conditions;










—


ripening for at least 21 days.




‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ is an unpressed, uncooked, blue-veined cow’s milk cheese. It comes in the shape of flat cylinders 27 to 30 cm in diameter and convex on the outside. Its rind presents a fine bloom. It is a creamy and homogeneous cheese with well-distributed blue veins and small openings of various shapes distributed throughout the cheese. ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ has the taste of a mild blue cheese, with no excess bitterness, acidity or saltiness, and is characterised by a slight taste of hazelnut and a scent of undergrowth.
The abundance of natural grassland, which has developed mainly on clay-limestone sands and clayey soils resulting from decalcification and is rich in flora, has given rise to a tradition of extensive dairy cattle farming based on a grazing system.
The various mountains that make up the Vercors region enable optimum use to be made of the natural environment: the flat and humid valley floors supply farms with fodder; the bottom of the slopes provide herds with a safe food supply; the steep slopes are devoted to grazing; the high mountain pastures are used during the summer season. This diversified mountain flora forms the basis of the herd’s diet and gives the milk, and hence the cheese, its typical characteristics.
The inaccessible nature of the Vercors Massif forced farmers to turn to cheese-making very early on.
Farmers began producing a medium-sized cheese that could be preserved and was suited to the needs of mountain farming and to trading with neighbouring regions.
Its traditional production, based on the creation of blue veins, dates as far back as the 14th century, when it was already known as a ‘blue’ cheese, and has been preserved to this day, mainly due to the isolated location of the Massif.
The various stages of production of ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ also give it its distinct characteristics:






—


the size of the curd grains (hazelnut to walnut-sized) help produce a creamy and homogeneous cheese;










—


stirring the curds, interspersed with periods of rest, allows the curds to be coated with a film (a process known as ‘coiffage’) that prevents them from sticking together, while moulding and draining the curds without pressing them allow openings to form on the cheese, where Penicillium roqueforti will develop;










—


ripening under humid and cool conditions, combined with piercing, promotes the balanced formation of Penicillium roqueforti;










—


ripening, which takes at least 21 days, also allows a thin surface mould to form and produces the cheese’s specific aromas: mild blue cheese, hazelnut and undergrowth. To sum up, ‘Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage’ is intimately linked to a region, the Vercors, which producers have been able to exploit by developing extensive mountain farming and traditional production techniques.





Electronic (URL) reference to the publication of the product specification


https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/boagri/document_administratif-06255107-9f99-4fce-8a66-b76a1b2657be



(1)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/27 of 30 October 2024 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules concerning the registration and the protection of geographical indications, traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms and repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (OJ L, 2025/27, 15.1.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2025/27/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/2145/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)