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Abstract
Quality policy becomes a central issue for agro-food sector. Distinctive regulatory strategies have been followed in France, and more recently in the European Union, in order to promote quality differentiation and consumer information about food products. We show that these strategies are all based on the two following rules, i. e the promotion of producer's collective reputation and the certification of «localized production systems». The main innovation introduced by these institutional arrangements is then to define the origin of products as a credible quality signal. The aim of this article is, first to characterize the main institutional factors that may explain the economic success met by this policy. Second, futures opportunities for their extension at the international level are emphasised, focusing more precisely on the possible hurdles they will have to overcome.