Based on a field survey of 12 products, this study reveals the objectives and effectiveness of the Geographical Indication Protection System (GI) and Regional Collective Trademarks, which promote regional branding of agricultural products. We evaluate the effectiveness of both systems from the viewpoints of “constructing a production management system,” “controlling imitations,” “expanding awareness,” “rising price,” and “expanding production scale.” Moreover, we examine the effectiveness of “rising price” for Tsurajima Gobou and Miyagi Salmon using the Price Premium Method.
The main results are as follows. First, the field survey reveals that GI-specific rules are useful. The government uses these rules to regulate imitation, and organizations that do not have corporate status can register their products under the GI system. Second, the prices of many agricultural brands remain unchanged after registration with brand protection systems. After registration, due to their strict production management systems or positive appeal to wholesalers, those prices are raised. Moreover, we confirmed that the price of Tsurajima Gobou and Miyagi Salmon are raised after registration using the Price Premium Method.
