Cork Technology Centre (CTCOR)

The Cork Technology Centre (CTCOR) is a non-profit research laboratory that plays an important role in defining standards for the Portuguese cork industry. It conducts research in the following areas: environmental quality, energy, technical and technological innovation, strategy, and health and safety at work.

CTCOR is recognised by the Portuguese Government as a centre of expertise. It has around 200 members. Private funding makes up 70% of its income, with the remainder coming from the Government, through various agencies.

C.E.Liège (Confédération Européenne du Liège - European Cork Federation)

It’s main activity is to conduct research and studies to establish international standards and exchange knowledge with other institutes and organizations in the cork sector. APCOR is a member of the C.E. Liège, together with other national associations related to the cork industry, in different European countries. The C.E. Liège publishes and generates the implementation of the Código Internacional das Práticas Rolheiras (CIPR) (International Code of Cork Stopper Practices) and of the Sistema de Acreditação das Empresas (Company Accreditation system) through CIPR – Systecode. It was founded in 1987.

Comité Consultif des Forêts y inclus Liège

The European Union Committee that monitors and analyses policies and legislation affecting the cork industry.

APSL – Associação Portuguesa de Criadores do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano (Portuguese Association of Lusitano Horse Breeders)

It aims to defend and to promote the Lusitano thoroughbred horse breed. It supports its members in their activity of breeding Lusitano thoroughbred race horses; establishes and maintains links with the official departments related to the sector and obtains their technical or financial support; cooperates with domestic and foreign entities in all actions aimed at achieving the objectives of the Association, and represents its members in pursuit of the common goal of the association.

Municipal Authority of Ponte de Sor

Third largest city in the district of Portalegre, after Portalegre and Elvas. It is the headquarters of a municipality with 839.71 km2 and 16,722 inhabitants. It is a region with intense cork production, and has the world’s largest cork mosaic, with the portrait of novelist José Saramago, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The land in this region is especially suited to the cork oak forests. Novelist José Luís Peixoto, from Galveias, Ponte de Sor, was the sponsor of the cork oak tree planted in the gardens of the Assembly of the Republic in December 2012, to mark the first anniversary of the elevation of the cork oak to the status of National Tree of Portugal.

Professional Training Centre for the Cork Industry (CINCORK)

The Professional Training Centre for the Cork Industry (CINCORK) focuses on the development of training programs, whether for young people entering the job market, or for company employees, in various areas: management and maintenance of production, quality, environment and energy, health and safety at work, human resource management, strategic financial management, sales/marketing management, and specific technological training for the sector.

Instituto do Vinho do Douro e Porto (IVDP) (Institute of Vinho do Douro and Porto)

This is a public institute of an interprofessional nature, whose mission is to ensure a prestigious international image for the Designation of Origin (DO) of Porto and Douro, and to increase the value perception among consumers, based on a strong product differentiation in relation to the concepts of DO and terroir.

Municipal Authority of Coruche

Coruche is a Portuguese town with less than 5,000 inhabitants, located in the district of Santarém. It is the headquarters of one of the largest municipalities in Portugal, with an area of 1,115.72 Km2 area and a population of just 19,944. It is a municipality with oak forests, and it is also home to the Observatório do Sobreiro e da Cortiça (Cork Oak and Cork Observatory), a cork-lined building that was architecturally designed to create a metaphor for cork as a living element. It has laboratories and workshops dedicated to the study of themes related to the cork oak and cork, and a documentation centre that houses bibliographic items on the cork industry.

Municipal Authority of Gavião

A Portuguese village in the district of Portalegre, in the Alentejo region, with 1609 inhabitants. It is the headquarters of a municipality covering an area of 294.59 km2, with a population of 4132. It is a cork oak forest zone that is home to several cork extraction companies.

FILCORK - Interprofessional Cork Industry Association

FILCORK is an association of structures representing the set of organized agents of the cork industry. One of its objectives is to promote interprofessional consultation between all agents who work in the cork industry, promoting an overall linkage between the various actors in this sector. It is the first interprofessional association of the Portuguese forestry sector to be officially recognized, in 2008. It is dedicated to the problems of the sector, in a credible and effective institutional partnership that acts on behalf of the interests of the cork industry.

ViniPortugal

The Associação Interprofissional do Setor Vitivinícola (Interprofessional Wine Industry Association) is a private non-profit association that aims to promote the Portuguese wine industry. It is the managing body of the brand Wines of Portugal, and promotes the image of Portugal as a producer of wines of excellence. Wines of Portugal is present on four continents and in eleven strategic markets. Founded in 1997, it invests around 7 million euros a year, and promotes more than a thousand actions to promote Portuguese wines.

Casa do Azeite

An employers’ association established under civil law, with national scope, set up to defend and promote the interests of their members. Casa do Azeite is an organization whose mission is rooted in the olive oil brand of the same name. Its activities are divided among support for producers and packers, and promoting the brand among consumers. It has more than 65 member companies associated with the Olive Oil Brand, which together represent around 95% of all the Olive Oil brand packaged in Portugal.

Municipal Authority of Santa Maria da Feira

The municipality of Santa Maria da Feira has an area of 213.45 km2 and 139,312 inhabitants. It is located in the district of Aveiro, in the Metropolitan Area of Porto. The municipality is home to the world’s largest cork processing centre, with the largest number of companies in this sector, APCOR, and other industries that work with a range of areas related to this branch of activity. It has almost 500 cork companies within in its territory. World leader in the cork sector, the headquarters of Amorim Group are located in Santa Maria da Feira.