RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/76/Add.8
29September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-4049)
Original:English/French/Spanish Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS ONANY SYSTEMS FOR THE REGISTRATION
OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH THEY OPERATE
Communication from theEuropean Communities andtheirMember States
Addendum
Atitsmeeting of27February 1997, theCouncil forTRIPS agreed toinitiate preliminary work
onissues relevant tothenegotiations specified inArticle 23.4oftheTRIPS Agreement through an
information-gathering activity. Inthisconnection, theCouncil invited Members tosubmit information
onanysystems fortheregistration ofgeographical indications which theyoperate. Reference ismade
toparagraph 73ofdocument IP/C/M/12.
Thepresent document reproduces theinformation received fromtheEuropean Communities
andtheirMember States byacommunication fromtheirPermanent Mission, dated 17September 1997.
_______________
Inresponse totheconclusions oftheCouncil forTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property
Rights of27February 1997, WTO Members willfindbelow information onsystems forthenotification
andregistration ofgeographical indications under Community law. Community lawrelating to
geographical indications isagricultural inorigin, hence itapplies almost entirely toagricultural and
agri-food products included inAnnex IItotheTreaty ofRome, within which onecandistinguish between
alcoholic beverages andother agri-food products.
LIST OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS INTHE WINES AND SPIRITS SECTOR
Inrespectofalcoholicbeverages,recognition,controlandprotectionofgeographicalindications,
including designations oforigin, isamatter forthelawsofMember States, orevenofregional bodies,
within theframework ofcriteria defined byCommunity law. TheCommission isintheprocess of
assembling information onregistration systems intheMember States oftheCommunity. This
information, inconsolidated form, willbecommunicated toMembers later.
Alistofgeographical indications forwines originating inMember States oftheEuropean
Community isincluded inPartAofAnnex IItotheAgreement between theCommunity andAustralia
ontrade inwineof1994.
Asubsequent updating ofthelistswaslargely published inOfficial Journal NoC344of
15November 1996. Itincludes references tothelegalinstruments enacted byMember States inorder
torecognise these geographical indications.IP/C/W/76/Add.8
Page2
Geographical indications forspirits andother wine-based beverages arelisted, respectively,
inAnnex IItoCouncil Regulation (EEC) No1576/89 laying down general rules onthedefinition,
description andpresentation ofspirit drinks andAnnex IItoRegulation No1601/91 laying down general
rulesonthedefinition, description andpresentation ofaromatised wines, aromatised wine-based drinks
andaromatised wine-product cocktails. Article 1ofRegulation (EEC) No1576/89 alsoincludes several
denominations protected intheCommunity. These regulations havealready beencommunicated to
Members oftheWTO.
Oneshalladdtotheseliststheprotected denominations according toagreeements between the
Community andthirdcountries inthewinesector andinthespirits sector.
REGISTRATION SYSTEMS PROVIDED FOR UNDER REGULATION (EEC) NO2081/92
Regulation (EEC) No2081/92 laysdown tworegistration procedures foragri-food products
otherthanwines andspirits. Thefirstisthe“normal ”one:itisalways applicable andincludes provision
forobjecting toaregistration. Thesecond method enabled Member States togrant protection at
Communityleveltogeographicalindicationsalreadyrecognisedorestablishedbyusageintheirterritory.
Normal registration procedure (Articles 5,6and7)
- Anapplication forregistration prepared byagroup ofproducers mustsubstantiate thefact
thattherelevant designation fulfils thedefinitions inArticle 2(protected designation oforigin
orprotected geographical indication) andsupply particulars ofthespecification (Article 4).
- Theapplication issenttothecompetent national authority oftheMember State inwhich
thegroup isestablished, which hastocarry outthepreliminary check oftheapplication
documents and,ifnecessary, forward ittotheCommission.
- TheCommission ,afterchecking thateverything required bytheRegulation ispresent and
inaccordance withtheRegulation, publishes details intheOfficial Journal oftheEuropean
Communities (“OJ”)setting outthemainpoints oftheapplication forregistration. Publication
inthiswayconfers therightofobjection onanylegitimately concerned person. Theobjection
mustbesubstantiated andonlybased oncertain grounds.1These steps mustbetaken within
sixmonths ofpublication intheOJ.
TheCommission maypropose totheRegulating Committee thatadesignation shallnotbepublished
ifithasreached theconclusion thatthedesignation doesnotfulfil therequirements.
- Ifnoobjection islodged withtheCommission, thedesignation concerned isregistered and
published forthesecond timeintheOJ(“second publication ”).
- Ifobjections areforwarded totheCommission byMember States, theCommission callson
theMember States concerned tocome toanagreement. Should agreement bereached with
1Tobeadmissible anobjection must:
-either show non-compliance withtheconditions referred toinArticle 2;
-orshow theproposed registration ofaname tojeopardise theexistence ofanentirely orpartly identical name or
trademark, ortheexistence ofproducts which have been legally onthemarket foratleastfiveyears before the
dateoffirstpublication;
-orindicate thefeatures which demonstrate thatthename whose registration isapplied forisgeneric innature.IP/C/W/76/Add.8
Page3
theoriginal application forregistration unchanged, thedesignation isregistered. Ifthere are
changes, publication intheOJisrequired which, again, confers arightofobjection. Should
agreement notbereached, theCommission mayputaproposal totheRegulating Committee,
onwhich allMember States arerepresented.
Special registration procedure (Article 17)
Thisprovision enabled theMember States, within sixmonths oftheentry intoforce ofthe
Regulationon26July1993,toapplyforregistrationofdesignationswhichwerealreadylegallyprotected
orestablished byusage intheirterritory. Onlythose designations which comply withArticles 2and4
oftheRegulation shallberegistered. Theobjection procedure isnotapplicable; inthiscase,however,
theopinion ofallMember States issought inorder thatageographical designation mayberegistered.IP/C/W/76/Add.8
Page4
ANNEX
REFERENCES OFPUBLICATIONS OFLISTS OFTHE GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATIONS WHICH ARE RECOGNIZED AND PROTECTED
INTHE COMMUNITY
LISTS OFGEOGRAPHICIAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES
- Listsincluded inPartAofAnnex IItotheAgreement between theCommunity andAustralia
ontrade inwine(OJNoL86,31March 1994).
Updatings:2
- Listspublished pursuant toArticle 1(3)ofRegulation No823/87 onquality wines produced
inspecific regions, published asNo96/C 344/07 inOJNo344,15November 1996.
- Listoftable wines designated bymeans ofageographical indication inaccordance with
Article 2(3)(i) ofRegulation No2392/89 laying down general rulesforthedescription andpresentation
ofwines andgrape musts, published asNo96/C 344/08 inOJNoC344,15November 1996.
Lists ofgeographical indications forthird-country wines protected under agreements withthe
Community
- PartBofeachoftheannexes totheagreements between theCommunity andBulgaria, Romania
andHungary (Council Decisions Nos93/722/EC, 93/724/EC, 93/726/EC, published inOJNoL337,
31December 1993).
- PartBofAnnex IItotheAgreement between theEuropean Community andAustralia (Council
Decision 94/184/EC, published inOJNoL86,31March 1994).
LISTS OFPROTECTED DENOMINATIONS FOR OTHER ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
- Spirits: Article 1andAnnex IItoRegulation (EEC) No1576/89 laying down general rules
forthedefinition, description andpresentation ofspirituous drinks (OJNoL160,29May1989).
- Aromatised wines: Annex IItoRegulation (EEC) No1601/91 laying down general rulesfor
thedefinition, description andpresentation ofaromatised wines, aromatised wine-based drinks and
aromatised wine-product cocktails (OJNoL149,14June1991).
2InthecaseofGermany, thispublication hastobesupplemented withthenames included inthelistpublished inGerman
Official Journal NoG1990 Aof23May1996, which setsoutallgeographical indications recognised bytheMember State.
InthecaseofAustria, thelistpublished inOJNoC344hastobesupplemented bythenames of“Grosslage ”,commune,
partofacommune, vineyard orparcel. With regard toItaly, there isamore recent listthantheonepublished inOJNo
C344. Therelevant updating information willbepublished andcommunicated toWTO Members later.IP/C/W/76/Add.8
Page5
Lists ofprotected denominations under mutual recognition agreements between theCommunity
andthird countries
- Paragraphs AandBoftheAgreement intheform ofanExchange ofLetters between the
European Community andtheUnited States ofAmerica onmutual recognition ofcertain distilled
spirits/spirit drinks (Council Decision 94/357/EC, OJNoL157/36, 24June1996).
- Annexes IandIItotheAgreement between theEuropean Community andtheUnited Mexican
States onmutual recognition andprotection ofdesignations forspirituous drinks (Council Decision
97/361/EC, OJNoL152/15, 11June1997).
LISTS OFREGISTERED DESIGNATIONS FOR OTHER AGRI-FOOD PRODUCTS
- Commission Regulation (EC)No2400/96 of17December 1996ontheentry ofcertain names
inthe“Register ofprotected designations oforigin andprotected geographical indications ”provided
forinRegulation (EEC) No2081/92 (OJNoL327,18December 1996, p.11).
- Commission Regulation (EC)No1107/96 of12June1996ontheregistration ofgeographical
indications anddesignations oforigin under theprocedure laiddown inArticle 17ofRegulation (EEC)
No2081/92 (the“firstlist”)(OJNoL148,21June1996).
- CommissionRegulation(EC)No1263/96of1July1996supplementingtheAnnextoRegulation
(EC) No1107/96 (the“second list”)(OJNoL163,2July1996).
- Commission Regulation (EC) No126/97 of23January 1997 supplementing theAnnex to
Regulation (EC) No1107/96 (the“thirdlist”)(OJNoL22,24January 1997).
- Commission Regulation (EC) No1065/97 of12June 1997 supplementing theAnnex to
Regulation (EC) No1107/96 (the“fourth list”)(OJNoL156,13June1997).