Résumé
When a consumer of standard agricultural products starts to prefer more specific products with various characteristics, there is quality uncertainty. The economics of uncertain product quality has become unavoidable for agricultural products « de terroir » (APTs) because they are subject to adverse selection. A certrain guarantee of quality can created on the basis of the characteristics of a good (research, experiments, confidence) which enables the quality uncertainty to be removed thus making the market more efficient. An,other approach, often applied to APTs is based on the economics of conventions where quality is a social construct. However, the area left open by external quality lends itself to yet another approach. On the basis of recent work in regional economics, a concept of agriculture « de terroir » emerges.<br /><br />A normative concept : the territorial system is baszed on the properties of the non-transportability of the territorial organisation, the removal of quality uncertainty and the relationship with original « terroir ». There is domination of the regulation-type information which are developed by this system. Norms, through information, determine theinternal quality of APTs, and « appelations controlees » (AOCs) or AOPs can obtain the status of collective goods;<br />An extended concept : the territorial system also has the properties of the normative concept. But in this case, the norm is no longer in relation to the definition of the internal quality of APTs from this territorial organisation, and depends external quality. This involves treating each product of this « terroir » as being different on the basis of intrinsic (nutrional, taste, smell,..) while at the same time they all have the same identity on the basis of external quality. Regulation-type information emanates from actors who use and develop the image of their « terroir ». The latter acquires the status of a collective good, because it is adopted by all of the producers and the consumer of TAP considered this « terroir » as a right information to define the quality of the good. With the introduction of the patrimonial dimension, the « terroir » can delimited the quality of the TAP.