According to the Commission, the Kranjska klobasa is a semi-durable sausage made from minced pork meat and back fat, spiced with sea salt, garlic and pepper, and mildly hot-smoked in beech wood.
The filling is stuffed into a pig’s small intestine, the ends of which are closed and skewered with a wooden dowel.
The geographical area for the product comprises the region within Slovenia which lies between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea, "which is delimited in the west by the border with Italy, to the north by the border with Austria, and to the south by the border with Croatia, and which opens up to the east towards the Pannonian Basin, stretching as far as the border with Hungary".
Oppositions to the registration of Kranjska klobasa were submitted by Germany, Croatia and Austria in 2012, with all three deemed admissible.
Slovenia reached agreements with Germany and Austria, however no agreement was reached with Croatia within the six month time frame designated by the EC.
In May last year it was announced that producers of ‘Prekmurska šunka’ – a traditional Slovenian smoked and dried ham – would benefit from the inclusion of the product on the EU’s list of PGIs.