Explanation on the laguiole knife geographical indication

What is the Laguiole Geographical Indication (GI)?

Only the Thiers and Laguiole basins can manufacture Laguiole knives GI.

This Geographical Indication was recognized by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) on September 23, 2022. The history of this obvious protection will have taken more than a century.
This request had been made by the CLAA, an association bringing together cutlers from Auvergne and Aubrac.
Actiforge is particularly pleased because the company is one of the founding members.
The long history that unites the Thiers basin and the territory of Laguiole is finally recognized.

This GI guarantees the customer on the origin and authenticity of the knife.

Thiers and Laguiole are finally united to resist competition from low-end imported products. A Laguiole can only bear this indication if it was made in the geographical area grouping these 2 territories.

The history of Laguiole shows that the appearance of this knife has evolved over time.
For the customer to be able to recognize it easily, it was necessary to fix a characteristic aspect.
The IG has fixed respect for the global and historical line of the knife. The fly is not the only identification criterion because other regional knives carry it, the knife must also have a curved handle and a yatagan blade.

This GI guarantees the quality of the Laguiole knife

The Laguiole knife has enjoyed a reputation for high quality since its creation. He must keep it. To obtain this GI, CLAA provided very strict specifications:
- All component parts must be made in the Auvergne/Aubrac region
- All manufacturing operations (assembly, polishing, sharpening, quality control) are described and must meet precise detailed requirements.
The knife manufacturer is subject to periodic checks by an independent company, Bureau Veritas certification was selected for this mission.
Failure to comply with these requirements makes him lose the possibility of using the GI, either on the blades or the labelling.

GI will not stop imports

It will still be possible to find knives made in China marked Laguiole legally. These knives will not have the GI but there will be nothing illegal about it.
There will also be technically the possibility that Laguiole knives made in France will not benefit from the geographical indication. The reason could be the geographical area but also the design of the knife.
The shape of the Laguiole knife has evolved over time and its evolution is not finished. Nevertheless, a certain tolerance had to be set so that it remains identifiable.
The specifications of the GI clearly set the tolerances of angle, dimension and shape of our knife that we cherish so much in France and in the world.