European Stone Logo Gets IMM Support

CARRARA, Italy – The CarraraMarmotec stone-industry event will support the Pietra Autentica logo as part of the European campaign launched by the European & International Federation of Natural Stone Industries (EUROROC).
The logo, recently registered to denote natural-stone materials, involves the entire European industry working in the quarrying, processing and sale of stone, said Gerd Merke, EUROROC’s secretary general.
Italian companies can use the Italian version Pietra Autentica. The European logo will actually have the same graphic image for all 25 member states, with the translation of the words into their national languages.
Internazionale Marmi e Macchine (IMM), the organization presenting the Carrara event, voiced its approval of the logo in late October.
“IMM, as a company dealing with the promotion and improvement of marble and all stones,” said IMM President Giancarlo Tonini, “will give its greatest support to the promotion of a mark that should protect both producers and end users, and we are willing to organize, during CarraraMarmotec 2006, initiatives and promotional events in support of a mark that concerns European products and producers.
“Committing ourselves to protecting producers and consumers in such a huge market as the EU, which comes first in the quality and quantity of natural stone they use and is an essential model for all the world with its completeness and the quality of its products, is a duty, which falls within our institutional tasks and which we are most willing to fulfil as we know we will be assisted by EUROROC and Assomarmomacchine, the relevant European Federation and Italian Association, respectively, which are deeply involved in this activity.”
EUROROC originally investigated the use of the Pietra Naturale trademark created by the Italian association Assomarmi, but concerns over costs led to the creation of the new logo.
Pietra Autentica is run and distributed in Italy by Assomarmomacchine, the only Italian member of EUROROC.
IMM will include the logo in all the information materials produced and distributed to promote CarraraMarmotec 2006, as well as the international Marble Architectural Awards to be given in 2006 to European designers.