EN   EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, 31.3.2022  
COM(2022) 134 final  
2022/0089 (COD)  
 
Proposal for a  
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  
on European Union geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural 
products, and quality schemes for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 
1308/2013, (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/787  and repealing Regulation (EU) No 
1151/201 2  EN 1  EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM  
1. CONTEXT  OF THE  PROPOSAL  
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal  
Geographical indications (GIs) identify products having  qualities, characteristics or reputation 
due to natural and human factors linked to their place of origin. They are an intellectual 
property right (IPR) designed to promote fair competition amongst producers by preventing 
bad-faith uses of a name and frau dulent and deceptive practices. GIs guarantee authenticity to 
consumers and distinguish a product in the market securing higher -value sales and exports. 
GIs have been recognised internationally since 18831, and protected in steps by the Union 
from the 1970 s (wine) to 1992 (agricultural products and foodstuffs), including the 
completion of the registers2 in 2020. Today, the EU register of geographical indications 
contains almost 3500 names of wines, spirit drinks, agricultural products and foodstuffs.  
The Un ion system of GIs is sound, however, the evaluation of the policy as well as the impact 
assessment process have shown space for improvement, notably with a view to strengthening 
the system of GIs, as key to provision of high quality food and protecting cul tural, 
gastronomic and local heritage across the Union. This concerns mainly:  
• How best to give effect to the fundamental right of producers for the IPR in their GIs 
to be protected. Producers holding the intangible asset of a GI have a right to have it 
protected and the Union seeks to do that as efficiently and effectively as possible, 
also in time of increased use of the internet;  
• How to prevent bad faith exploitation of product names by operators who have no 
rights or association with the authentic pr oduct. Enforcement, notably on the internet, 
and verification of compliance also need to be reviewed;  
• How to increase sustainable production of products with GIs. As an instrument that 
valorises products intrinsically linked to the natural factors and kn ow-how of 
producers in a local area, GIs are under -used for this purpose;  
• How can consumers be better informed about authentic products to address 
asymmetric information. Consumer recognition of the dedicated Union symbols is 
very low, pointing to a diff iculty of communication;  
• How to ensure producers receive a fair return for their product with its qualities 
linked to its production, and can strengthen their position in the food supply chain.  
The traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG) scheme has not  after 30 years of existence 
delivered the expected benefits for producers and consumers. To better identify and promote 
traditional agricultural products in the Union, the TSG scheme should be simplified and 
clarified.  
The proposal contributes to the obje ctives pursued by the Common Agricultural Policy 
(CAP), in particular to improve the response of Union agriculture to societal demands on 
economic, social and environmental sustainability outcomes of agricultural production. It will 
strengthen the current system of GIs as IPRs. The proposal will increase the economic, social 
and environmental outcomes of GI products, give producers more powers and responsibilities, 
reduce new forms of infringements (internet), improve the effectiveness of enforcement and 
                                                 
1 https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/paris/  
2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food -farming -fisheries/food -safety -and-quality/certification/quality -
labels/geographical -indications -register/  EN 2  EN checks that guarantee the authenticity of the products, address legislative gaps, and make the 
registration procedures more efficient. Besides GIs, the proposal also addresses the rules for 
TSGs, notably in clarifying their definition. On the other hand, the  proposal does not make 
changes to the rules for optional quality terms; these were introduced only in 2012 and their 
potential first needs to be fully explored by the Member States. Finally, the proposal does not 
address non -agricultural GIs; the intentio n of the Commission is to propose a separate 
legislative act for those.  
The overall goal of the GI revision is to facilitate the take up of GIs across the Union, as IP 
instruments accessible to all farmers and producers of products, linked by characteristi cs or 
reputation, and to their place of production. No changes are proposed to the fundamental 
structure of the GI systems, thus maintaining the role of the Member States in the procedure 
for applications related to GIs and TSGs; the high level of protecti on of intellectual property 
rights; specificities for GIs in the wine and spirit drinks sectors; and national enforcement 
within the framework of both the Official Controls Regulation and IP tools.  
While the production of quality agricultural products is a  strength of European agriculture, 
there are geographical imbalances when it comes to the number  of registered GIs across the 
Union. These reflect different ‘starting points’ and experiences in preserving the gastronomic 
and cultural heritage of the Member  States. The GI revision should pay particular attention to 
encouraging take -up in those Member States where the use of GIs is under -exploited. GIs 
reward producers for their efforts to produce a diverse range of quality products, which in turn 
can benefit  the rural economy. This is particularly the case in less -favoured areas, in mountain 
and in remote regions, where the farming sector accounts for a significant part of the economy 
and where production costs and handicaps are high. An objective is also to increase the 
number of registered GIs for each lower -user Member State to the Union average.  
The proposal therefore addresses the following   general objectives:  
1. ensuring effective protection of IPR in the Union, including efficient registration 
processes, to fairly reward producers for their efforts;  
2. increasing the uptake of GIs across the Union to benefit the rural economy.  
These two general objectives are detailed in six specific objectives:  
1. improve the enforcement of GI rules to better p rotect IPR and better protect GIs on 
the internet, including against bad faith registrations and fraudulent and deceptive 
practices, and uses in the domain name system, and combat counterfeiting;  
2. streamline and clarify the legal framework to simplify an d harmonise the procedures 
for application for registration of new names and amendments to product 
specifications;  
3. contribute to making the Union food system more sustainable by integrating specific 
sustainability criteria;  
4. empower producers and producer groups to better manage their GI assets and 
encourage the development of structures and partnerships within the food supply 
chain;  
5. increase correct market perception and consumer awareness of the GI policy and 
Union symbols to enable consumers to make informed purchasing choices;  
6. safeguard the protection of traditional food names to better valorise and preserve 
traditional products and production methods.  EN 3  EN • Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area  
Union legislation has p rovided for the protection of designations of origin and geographical 
indications in respect of wine since the early 1970s, spirit drinks since 1989 and agricultural 
products and foodstuffs since 1992. It allows for the registration of valuable product nam es 
produced according to a product specification in a given geographical area by producers with 
recognised know -how. The proposal is consistent with existing policy provisions in the area 
of GIs. Its aim is to improve the existing provisions and to provide  for a simplified and 
streamlined set of rules while it strengthens certain elements of GI protection, notably by 
empowering producer groups and increasing the level of protection on the internet. It 
encourages GI producer groups to include in the product specification requirements of higher 
economic, social and environmental sustainability outcomes on a voluntary basis. To improve 
the quality of registrations and the treatment of applications, it provides powers for the 
Commission to use the technical assi stance of an agency to examine the applications while 
keeping the GI registration and the overall responsibility for GI policy with the Commission.  
• Consistency with other Union policies  
The proposal is consistent with the overall legal framework establis hed for the CAP. The 
proposal complements other measures aimed at ensuring the quality and diversity of the 
Union’s agricultural, wine and spirit drinks production, rewarding producers fairly for their 
effort, protecting the producers’ fundamental rights i n the area of property, and informing 
citizens and consumers about identifiable specific characteristics of products of the above -
mentioned sectors, in particular those linked to their geographical origin.  
The Commission committed itself in the Farm to For k Strategy3 to contibute to the transtion 
to a sustainable food system to strengthen the legislative framework of GIs and, where 
appropriate, to include specific sustainability criteria. GIs are also mentioned in relation to 
improved rules for strengthenin g the position of farmers and producer groups in the value 
chain. The Farm to Fork Action Plan announces other initiatives that impact GI products, in 
particular a proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems, to be tabled in 
2023.  The present initiative on GIs was included in the Commission Work Programme 20214 
under REFIT5 initiatives, linked to the European Green Deal6. 
As regards the climate -neutrality objective and the Union’s 2030 and 2040 climate targets, 
this proposal will not n egatively affect the climate.  
In addition, the Commission announced in the Communication on an IP Action Plan7 that it 
would strengthen the protection system for GIs to make it more effective, including to fight 
IPR infringements.  
Council Conclusions on t he Farm to Fork Strategy8 welcomed a better integration of 
sustainable development into European quality policy and invited the Commission to reaffirm 
the relevance and importance of European quality schemes and to strengthen the legislative 
framework on G Is. 
                                                 
3 https://ec.europa.eu/food/horizontal -topics/farm -fork-strategy_en  
4 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/202 1_commission_work_programme_annexes_en.pdf  
5 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law -making -process/evaluating -and-improving -existing -laws/refit -
making -eu-law-simpler -less-costly -and-future -proof_en  
6 https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities -2019 -2024/europ ean-green -deal_en  
7 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better -regulation/have -your-say/initiatives/12510 -Intellectual -property -
action -plan_en  
8 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST -12099 -2020 -INIT/en/pdf  EN 4  EN 2. LEGAL  BASIS,  SUBSIDIARITY  AND  PROPORTIONALITY  
• Legal basis  
The proposal falls within the scope of the CAP (Article 43 TFEU9) and IPRs (Article 118 
TFEU).  
As regards the CAP, requirements and rules for the placing of agricultural products, 
foodstuff s, wines, aromatised wine products and spirit drinks on the internal market and 
ensuring the integrity of the internal market are matters essentially of Union competence.  
• Subsidiarity (for non -exclusive competence)  
By Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Regula tion (EU) 2019/787 and Regulation (EU) No 
1151/2012, the Union has established an exhaustive system for the protection of the names of 
specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as 
well as traditional kno w-how in the field of agricultural products, wine and spirit 
drinks.  Member States may therefore not act individually to achieve this policy objective. 
Strengthening the current system of GIs can only be achieved by action at Union level, 
namely by a revi sion of these Regulations.  
• Proportionality  
The proposal comprises limited and targeted changes to the current legislative framework for 
GIs which do not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objective of strengthening the 
GI system. It keeps in plac e the specificities of the sectors while it harmonises those rules that 
are common to all sectors, notably the procedures to register a name or amend the product 
specification, protection of the names, and checks and enforcement.  
• Choice of the instrument  
The policy on GIs requires its direct applicability in the Member States. A Regulation of the 
European Parliament and of the Council is the appropriate instrument for a revision of the GI 
system, taking into account that the legislation currently in force  consists of:  
• GIs for agricultural products and foodstuffs — Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes 
for agricultural products and foodstuffs10; 
• GIs for wine — Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets 
in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) 
No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/20 0711; 
• GIs for spirit drinks — Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling 
of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation an d labelling 
of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the 
use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and 
repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/200812. 
The proposal will entail a re peal of the first above -mentioned Regulation and amendments to 
the latter two.  
                                                 
9 https://eur -lex.europa.eu/legal -content/EN/ TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=EN  
10 OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.  
11 OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671.  
12 OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 1.  EN 5  EN 3. RESULTS  OF EX-POST  EVALUATIONS,  STAKEHOLDER  
CONSULTATIONS  AND  IMPACT  ASSESSMENTS  
• Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation  
Evaluation of Union policy on GI s and TSGs protected in the Union was carried out. Its 
findings were published on 21 December 2021 in the Commission Staff Working 
Document13. It covered altogether almost 3  400 GIs and 64 TSGs originating from the 
Member States. The purpose of the evaluati on was to assess to what extent the GI and TSG 
policy has reached its objectives. The evaluation examined the effectiveness, efficiency, 
relevance, coherence and added value at Union level of the GI and TSG framework.   
The objectives of GIs and TSGs are overall effectively  achieved. A wide range of possible 
benefits for stakeholders is associated with the policy, like securing fair return and 
competition for producers.  However, these  are not systematic in all Member States. The main 
limits are the low aware ness and understanding of the policy by consumers in some Member 
States and certain weaknesses of the controls at the downstream stages of the value chain. The 
other core policy objectives — ensuring the respect of GIs as IPR and the integrity of the 
internal market, and for TSGs to help producers of traditional products to safeguard 
traditional methods of production and recipes  — are in general achieved.  
The framework for GIs/TSGs is assessed to be efficient . GIs and TSGs provide several 
benefits for produ cers14, while the costs for public bodies (at Union and national levels) are 
low, estimated at 0.12  % of the total sales value under GI/TSG. However, there is room for 
simplification and reduction of administrative burden, notably as regards the lengthy 
registration and amendment procedures, both at national and Union level.  
The policy is assessed to be relevant  for both private stakeholders and public authorities. The 
objectives of GIs and TSGs are addressing the actual needs of the various stakeholders.  GIs 
and TSGs are considered a strong asset for rural territories and an important tool for 
promoting regional identity. Strengthening GIs and TSGs through rural development support 
responds primarily to the need to enhance integration. Although environmen tal protection and 
animal welfare are not the main objectives for GI/TSG production, the surveyed producer 
groups declared that some product specifications consider environmental and animal welfare 
issues.  
Considering coherence , no major incompatibility ha s been identified regarding the GIs and 
Union trade marks, GIs/TSGs and national/regional schemes, and GIs/TSGs and other Union 
policies.  
In addition, there is a clear Union added value because GIs and TSGs contribute notably 
both to the integrity of the i nternal market and fair trade with third countries.  
As regards the lessons learned, besides the above mentioned weaknesses in the field of 
control and enforcement (downstream market), and low awareness and understanding by 
consumers, the following points c an be highlighted:  
• Differences in implementation cause difficulties for enforcing producers’ IPR outside 
the Member State of production. In addition, GIs cover a wide range of products and 
                                                 
13 https://ec.europa.eu/info/food -farming -fisheries/key -policies/common -agricultural -
policy/cmef/products -and-markets/geographic al-indications -and-traditional -specialities -guaranteed -
protected -eu_en  
14 The average price of GI/TSG products is twice as high than that of comparable non -GI/TSG products; 
relative lower price variability for GI products; fair competition for producers in the GI/TSG value 
chain; diversification of on -farm activities e.g. processing, new types of sales (direct sales, e -sales) and 
agri-tourism.  EN 6  EN are sold through various outlets (including  online sales) further  hampering their 
effective enforcement.   
• Another issue is closely linked to the Commission’s new political objectives, in 
particular the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy. As sustainability 
concerns have become more accentuated in recent years, GI and TSG production is 
not or not systematically taking them into consideration.  
• Producer groups play a pivotal role in the implementation of GIs and TSGs. 
However, the evaluation found that the tasks they are entitled to conduct highly 
differ a mong the various sectors and between the Member States as they are only 
defined at Union level for the agri -food sector but not for wines and spirit drinks.  
• Lengthy and complex procedures for registration and amendments, both at national 
and European lev el, are considered the main nuisance for producers and source of 
administrative burden.  
• The limited number of products registered as TSGs, not constituting an IPR, points to 
a lack of interest in this scheme and the difficulty to protect traditional prod uction 
methods across the Union.  
• Stakeholder consultations  
The consultation strategy elaborated for this initiative covered all aspects of the initiative 
aiming at strengthening the system of GIs. It addressed various stakeholder categories: public 
autho rities, organisations from the farming sector, organisations from the processing sector, 
European, national and sectoral federations and private companies, consumers’ organisations, 
organisations from the trade sector and retail sectors; third countries, a cademic and research 
institutes, general public and others.  
All the activities announced in the communication strategy were performed as planned: 
Roadmap — Inception Impact Assessment feedback, stakeholder conference, Civil Dialogue 
Group meetings and ques tionnaire, Member States meetings and questionnaire, and targeted 
consultations of experts from the non -governmental sector.  
Roadmap — Inception Impact Assessment feedback    
Overall, stakeholders welcomed the orientations set out in the Roadmap – Inception  Impact 
Assessment15 published for feedback on 28 October 2020. The Roadmap received 51 
feedbacks.  
The great majority of the respondents welcomed the Commission initiative to strengthen the 
Union system of GIs. The feedback mainly focused on sustainability aspects to make part of 
the product specification, and the need for improved protection and legislative clarifications. 
Those who commented on the future of the TSG scheme considered that it should be 
continued, clarified and simplified. A smaller number o f respondents mentioned issues related 
to simplification, controls and enforcement, empowering GI producer groups and issues 
related to the use of the Union symbol on the label.  
Conference on “Strengthening Geographical Indications”, 25 -26 November 2020  
A high-level conference was organised jointly by the Commission and the European 
Intellectual Property  Office (EUIPO), and served as the focal point for stakeholders to make 
their views known on the range of issues dealt with in the GI revision process. A la rge 
audience composed of GI producers, stakeholders across the food value chain, Member State 
                                                 
15 file:///C:/Users/dufouva/Downloads/090166e5d5274a42%20(1).pdf  EN 7  EN officials, international and civil society organisations, EU officials as well as students and 
interested public took part of the event.  
Besides the plenary openi ng and closing sessions, fifteen panels to discuss different issues of 
the GI review took place. Sustainability issues and empowerment of producers were also 
discussed to address the Farm to Fork initiative as well as ways to increase attractiveness of 
GIs, and modernise and better enforce GIs in line with the IP action plan.  
The recorded conference and all the material (ppt. / video / audio / gallery) is available on the 
EUROPA web -page until November 202216. 
Public consultation  
From 15 January 2021 to 9 April 2021, the Commission conducted an open public 
consultation in all official EU languages via EU -SURVEY. Its aim was to gather the views of 
public authorities, stakeholders and the public. 302  contributions were received from 
respondents from 21 Member  States.  
The respondents identified the main challenges for the GI revision:  
• Due to increased exploitation of reputation of GIs on the internet, there is a need to 
prevent fraud  and the counterfeiting of GI products.  
• GI producer groups should have grea ter powers and responsibilities to manage, 
promote and enforce their GIs.  For the time being, they are not able to take 
decisions binding on their members.  
• There is a lack of awareness of the logo , resulting from a lack of information and 
publicity about  the benefits of GIs.  
Consultation of the Civil Dialogue Group (CDG) on Quality and Promotion  
The CDG members represent interests of producers, processors, retailers, consumers, 
environmentalists and others. The Commission consulted the CDG Quality and Pr omotion 
during meetings on:  
• 5 November 2020: information on the process; first discussion on the GI revision;  
• 9 March 2021: discussion on the main needs for the revision of the GIs, with a focus 
on some elements including sustainability;  
• 1 July 2021:  results of the public consultation and the targeted consultation of the 
CDG; discussion on objectives and options;  
• 30 November 2021: presentation of the outcome of the impact assessment process.  
Similarly, as detailed above, the Commission also consulte d the CDG Wine during its 
meetings on 5 May and 8 November 2021, and the CDG Spirit Drinks on 9 March and 29 
October 2021.  
The Commission also consulted the members of the CDG Quality and Promotion through a 
written questionnaire on the sustainability of G Is, the labelling and the TSG.  
• Collection and use of expertise  
The Commission consulted experts from the Member States in the framework of the Expert 
Group for Quality and Sustainability of Agriculture and Rural Development. Meetings of this 
Expert Group  took place on:  
                                                 
16 https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/strengthening -geographical -indications -digital -conference -2020 -nov-
25_en  EN 8  EN • 23 February 2021: the context, challenges and objectives, and feedback on the 
Roadmap;  
• 22 April 2021: results of the public consultation and the targeted consultation of the 
Expert group; overall approach;  
• 23 September 2021: policy ch oices.  
Prior to these meetings, the Commission also collected experience about implementation of 
the TSG scheme in the meeting of the Agricultural Policy Quality Committee on 19 October 
2020, including in the form of a questionnaire.  
The Commission also co nsulted the members of the Expert Group through a written 
questionnaire on the sustainability of GIs, simplification of the GI system with a focus on 
national process, relations with rural development policy and the TSG scheme.  
As regards the sustainabilit y, the driving opinion was that sustainability should not be 
imposed on the GI producers, but encouraged and accompanied. The existing practices in 
relation to sustainability are to be acknowledged and promoted. Member States’ experts 
stressed particularly  the importance of a gradual integration of sustainability requirements. 
There is a need for more support (e.g. for sustainability certification, relevant investments) 
and other forms of incentives (e.g. priority in funding) as well as information and prom otion 
actions. With regard to concerns about nutritious food and healthy diet, the main opinion was 
that the focus on nutritional values and dietary needs should not dilute the concept of origin in 
GIs, i.e. of quality achieved through the correlation betw een human factors and natural factors 
in a given geographical area.  
While the experts welcomed further simplification of procedures  and reduction of 
administrative burden, they also indicated that a thorough and accurate examination of GI 
applications shou ld precede over speed. Several experts favoured a better harmonisation of 
the procedural rules for all sectors and advocated for better guidelines and exchange of 
information to facilitate the circulation of best practices, in combination with a better 
performing IT application.  
With regard to the main difficulties in the national procedure , two main elements stand out. 
First, bringing producers together in an active organisation appears to be difficult, because of 
limited time and resources. Producers show  reluctance to cooperate at an early stage of a GI 
registration, and can disagree on the definition of the production process in a product 
specification. Drafting the product specification is the second difficulty encountered by 
producers: struggle in gath ering evidence supporting that the product meets requirements for a 
GI, unclear description of the product specificities, lack of knowledge on which information is 
required, etc.  
As regards the relation with rural development interventions , the majority of  experts 
indicated the objective should not be only to raise consumers’ awareness and promote the GI 
policy, but also to increase producers’ competitiveness, encourage them to apply for the 
protection and improve sustainability.  
Experts explained that the registration procedure for TSGs  is considered complex and 
burdensome, hence clarification of criteria could be envisaged. They insisted on the fact that 
allowing TSGs to be freely produced outside their country of origin refrains producers from 
participati ng in the scheme, as they do not see the benefit of taking the registration burden.  
• Impact assessment  
The work on the Impact Assessment was carried out from October 2020 to September 2021, 
during which an inter -service steering group met four times. Repr esentatives of twelve EN 9  EN Directorates General and Commission Services (ISSG), and of EUIPO  participated in the 
group. The content of the impact assessment report has been developed and improved with the 
contributions and comments of the services that particip ated actively to this ISSG.  
The Regulatory Scrutiny Board issued a negative opinion on the draft Impact Assessment 
Report following the meeting on 30 June 2021. The main observations of the Board included:  
• The report does not provide a clear rationale an d sufficient evidence to support the 
need for action in the areas of sustainability, healthy diets, use of logos and supply 
chain imbalances.  
• The report does not bring out clearly enough the available policy choices. It does not 
explore sufficiently alternative combinations of policy actions that could offer a 
better mix or are politically most relevant.  
• The report is not sufficiently clear on the involvement of an agency and the related 
costs.  
• The report does not sufficiently differentiate the vi ews of different stakeholders on 
key issues.  
The ISSG was consulted in writing during the period 10 -15 September 2021 on the revised 
version of the Impact Assessment Report, following the comments of the Regulatory Scrutiny 
Board. Comments were duly taken into account in the revised version.  
The required clarifications and complements were added in the Impact Assessment Report 
and its Annexes and resubmitted to the Board on 25 September 2021. On this basis, the Board 
issued a positive opinion with reservati ons17 on 24 October 2021. While acknowledging 
improvements in the report, the Board requested further clarifications on the following issues:  
• The selection of the preferred set of policy actions is not coherent with the rest of the 
report. The report does  not provide a clear identification and consistent assessment 
and comparison of alternative policy action packages.  
• The report does not sufficiently justify the preferred policy action regarding the 
involvement of an agency.  
• The views of different cate gories of stakeholders are not sufficiently reflected in the 
main report.  
All comments of the Board were addressed in the final version of the Impact Assessment 
Report and its executive summary18. 
The impact assessment process tested three policy options fo r the revision of GIs.  
The first option — Improve and support — aims at improving the instruments already in 
place and providing further support to producers, Member States’ authorities and other 
stakeholders. Main focus is on guidance (e.g. linked to enfo rcement, the assessment of files 
and legal interpretation/clarification), re -enforced cooperation among Member States and 
capacity building activities, including on sustainability issues. Procedures will be improved by 
aligning them across the sectors. A m ore flexible approach towards the Union logos is 
targeting their increased use by producers.  
The TSG scheme is replaced by an official recognition of traditional agricultural products and 
foodstuffs by Member States’ authorities with a limited list of crit eria to be set at the Union 
                                                 
17 Insert hyperlink when published  
18 Insert hyperlink when published  EN 10  EN level while Member States would notify the names of traditional products to the Commission 
in order to be made public.  
The second option — Better define and reinforce — reinforces the protection of GIs and 
improves the level pla ying field amongst operators through a single set of control procedures 
for all sectors and the development of detailed rules on the respect of GIs in relation to 
internet sales. It also defines the role GI producer groups can play, on a voluntary basis, i n 
contributing to addressing the societal concerns on sustainability through inclusion of 
sustainability criteria in product specifications, and in strengthening the management and 
enforcement of their GI assets. The specific roles of GI producer groups, r ecognised by 
Member States’ authorities, would be extended to all sectors. The use of the logo on the 
product label is not obligatory and producers can decide on its size and place on the label. 
Legislation will benefit from clarifications of the legal ter minology, built -in flexibilities 
regarding the production process and the creation of a single set of simplified procedural 
rules.  
As part of  this option, Union management structures for assessing GIs are to be reinforced 
through involvement of an existing  agency in the registration procedure. While the national 
level assessment would remain with Member States, an agency would provide technical 
assistance to the Commission during the EU -level scrutiny of applications and oppositions. 
While the Impact Assess ment Report implicitly foresees decisions also taken by an agency, 
for reasons of retaining close legislative control, the Commission shall take all legal decisions.  
The third option — Harmonise and upgrade  — ensures full harmonisation through the 
creation  of a single Regulation containing unified enforcement and control rules. Similarly, 
provisions related to protection and procedural rules will be streamlined into one single basic 
act. Use of the prescribed logos is obligatory across all sectors. However,  harmonisation will 
not affect GI definitions and will maintain the specificities of particular sectors. Sustainability 
criteria for GI production would be defined in the Union legislation and enforced via their 
integration in the product specification, ma king them subject to official controls. In addition 
to the actions provided under the previous policy option, specific guidelines on the 
functioning of the GI producer groups will strengthen their position in the GI value chains and 
allow for better manage ment of their GI assets.  
This option envisages to fully outsource the registration process to an existing agency, and 
provides the possibility of an appeal to an appellate body. It allows for various degrees of 
involvement of Member States: initial nationa l level assessment as under current rules, 
consultation of Member States or no involvement of Member States.  
The TSG scheme would be abandoned. Those traditional food names that are able to meet the 
criteria for a PDO or a PGI could be registered as such w hile other traditional names could be 
registered as a trade mark.  
The impact assessment has concluded that the second option has the most merits . This 
option scores the highest as regards the comparison of costs and benefits for GI producers. 
While produce rs will benefit from a faster and better protection, the costs, notably related to 
the length of the registration procedure and resources needed, will decrease. Voluntary 
inclusion by the GI producer group of sustainability criteria in the product specific ation would 
entail additional compliance and certification costs that could be partly offset by support 
measures in the framework of the rural development policy; this would meet consumers’ 
expectations for products with a higher ambition in sustainability  aspects.  EN 11  EN • Regulatory fitness and simplification  
The proposal is based on a regulatory fitness check and the analysis of the simplification 
potential.  
The proposed Regulation simplifies administration of GIs by proving for a single set of 
procedural and control rules for all sectors. It harmonises the protection provisions for all 
sectors as well. It thus ensures coherence and makes the system of GIs more easily 
understandable for stakeholders.  
The main elements of simplification are:  
• a single set of ru les for application processes and controls, with benefits in terms of 
coherence of rules across sectors, ending current divergences in procedures;  
• clarifications are introduced in particular in relation to IPR;  
• simpler concepts are introduced, notably in the TSG scheme, to improve their 
understanding for producers and consumers  
As regards the reduction of administrative burden, the proposal provides for technical 
assistance in the registration procedure by an existing EU agency and full exploitation of 
digital tools. The impact assessment shows that technical assistance will result in 
improvements in length of time, quality of applications (due to feedback cycle), quality of 
assessments and burden reduction on producers and Member States. This will requi re less 
public administration capacity and resources, and will shorten the registration time.  
The new domain name information and alert system to be established by EUIPO shall provide 
GI applicants with an additional digital tool as part of the application  process to better protect 
and enforce their GI rights.  
• Fundamental rights  
The Union is obliged under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights19 (Article 17(2)) to protect 
intellectual property. The measures foreseen will create better conditions for the prot ection of 
GIs and decrease the risk of usurpation, imitation and evocation of GI names, thus 
contributing to securing producers’ incomes. A more harmonised approach to procedural rules 
should result in a more efficient registration process, with shorter re gistration times, reduced 
burdens on producers and higher quality of registration processes, thereby respecting the 
Commission’s obligation to handle GI applications impartially, fairly and within a reasonable 
time.  
4. BUDGETARY  IMPLICATIONS  
The proposal does not have any budgetary implications.  
5. OTHER  ELEMENTS  
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements  
The implementation of the measures will be monitored and reported upon, based on the core 
monitoring indicators for the  main operational objectives, listed in the Impact Assessment 
Report.  
                                                 
19 https://ec.europa.eu/info/aid -development -cooperation -fundamental -rights/your -rights-eu/eu -charter -
fundamental -rights_en  EN 12  EN To monitor contribution of GIs to sustainable development and ensure transparency, GIview 
includes a section for each registered geographical indication where Member States’ 
authorities will include the sustainability statement.  
The 2016 Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law -Making provides that the three 
Institutions agree to systematically consider the use of review clauses in legislation, and that 
account is taken of the time need ed for implementation and for gathering evidence on results 
and impacts. Based on this, the Commission shall carry out an evaluation no sooner than five 
years after the date of application of the Regulation. The evaluation will be conducted 
according to th e Commission’s Better Regulation Guidelines.  
• Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal  
The proposal consists of a set of rules designed to put in place a coherent system for GIs 
aimed at assisting producers to better communicate the  qualities, characteristics and attributes 
of their GI products, and at ensuring appropriate consumer information. Moreover, the 
proposal clarifies and improves the TSG scheme while it makes no changes to the scheme for 
optional quality terms.  
The proposal  includes the following provisions:  
Title I: General provisions  
General provisions define the subject being the GIs, protecting the names of  wines, spirit 
drinks and agricultural products. They also provide the definitions of terms specifically used 
in the  Regulation, as well as data protection rules.  
Title II: Geographical indications  
Chapter 1: General provisions  
The general provisions explain that the objective of the GI system is to provide a unitary and 
exclusive system protecting the names of  wines, s pirit drinks and agricultural products having 
characteristics, attributes and reputation linked to their place of production. [LS: They provide 
the classification of products covered. They also provide the definitions of terms specifically 
used in this Tit le. 
Chapter 2: Registration of geographical indications  
This Chapter provides notably for the uniform rules for registration, both at national and 
Union level including the opposition procedure; defines the applicant and lists requirements 
for the applican t; specifies the content of application documents, and defines the role of the 
register. It lays down the transitional protection and transitional measures. It also includes 
provisions on the amendments to the product specification and on the cancellation of the 
registered GI.  
Chapter 3: Protection of geographical indications  
The level of protection of GIs is laid down in this Chapter. The Chapter also lays down rules 
for GIs when used as ingredients, clarifies generic terms and registration of homonymous G Is, 
as well as the relationship with trade marks. It provides rules for the recognised producer 
groups. The relationship with the use of terms in internet domain names is defined. Finally, 
this Chapter includes the rules for the use of Union symbols, indic ations and abbreviations on 
the labelling and advertising material of the product concerned.  
Chapter 4: Checks and enforcement  
The rules on the checks are laid down in this Chapter, including both verification that a 
product designated by a GI has been pro duced in conformity with the corresponding product EN 13  EN specification; and monitoring of the use of GIs in the marketplace. It also prescribes mutual 
assistance between Member states’ authorities. Finally, it requires that the proof of 
certification should be p rovided by the enforcement authorities on a request by a producer.  
Chapter 5: Supplementary elements of the registration procedure  
Under this Chapter, criteria are established for monitoring the performance of the European 
Union Intellectual Property Offic e (EUIPO) which will provide technical assistance to the 
Commission as regards the scrutiny of applications.  
Chapter 6: Geographical indications of agricultural products  
This Chapter provides for the definition of a Protected Designation of Origin and a P rotected 
Geographical Indication for agricultural products. It prescribes the content of the product 
specification and of the single document for GIs of agricultural products. Besides this, it 
includes rules that are specific for this sector, notably on pl ant varieties and animal breeds, the 
sourcing of feed and of raw materials.  
Chapter 7: Procedural provisions  
This Chapter lays down that the Commission shall be assisted by the Geographical Indications 
Committee  
Chapter 8: Transitional and final provisions  (geographical indications)  
This Chapter lays down that the Commission shall be assisted by the Geographical Indications 
Committee. It also provides for the continuity of the registers  and clarifies the rules for 
applications submitted before the entry int o force of this Regulation.  
Title III: Quality schemes  
Chapter 1: Traditional specialities guaranteed  
This Chapter lays down the rules for the TSG scheme. In comparison to the existing rules, it 
clarifies the criteria for the registration of TSGs; notably,  it no longer requires those to have a 
specific character. Procedural rules are also clarified and streamlined.  
Chapter 2: Optional quality terms  
This Chapter lays down the rules for optional quality terms. No changes have been done to the 
existing legisla tion in this area.  
Chapter 3: Procedural provisions  
This Chapter lays down that the Commission shall be assisted by the Agricultural Quality 
Committee.  
Title IV:  Amendments to Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013,  (EU) 2019/787 and (EU) 
2017/1001 [BT: order of Regulations]  
This Title includes the provisions amending Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and Regulation 
(EU) 2019/787, notably due to a new harmonised set of rules for protection, registration 
procedure and control and enforcement, laid down in the previous c hapters of this Regulation. 
It amends Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 to give to EUIPO the tasks of  administration of 
geographical indications.  
Title V: Transitional and final provisions  
The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to  the conditions 
laid down in the Regulation. This Chapter also clarifies the transitional rules, notably that the 
applications submitted before the entry into force of this Regulation have to respect the rules EN 14  EN applicable before its entry into force. The en try into force of the Regulation is defined on the 
[...] day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . EN 15  EN 2022/0089 (COD)  
Proposal for a  
REGULATION OF THE EUROPE AN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  
on European Union geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural 
products, and quality schemes for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 
1308/2013, (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/787  and repe aling Regulation (EU) No 
1151/2012  
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,  and in particular 
Article 43(2) and the first paragraph of  Article 118  thereof,  
Having r egard to the proposal from the European Commission,  
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,  
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee20, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of t he Regions21, 
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,  
Whereas:  
(1) The European Green Deal22 included the design of a fair, healthy and environmentally -
friendly food system (“farm to fork”) among the policies to transform the Union's 
economy for a sustainable future.  
(2) Commission Communication of 20 May 2020 on 'A Farm to Fork Strategy - for a fair, 
healthy and environmentally -friendly food system' which called for a transition to 
sustainable food systems, also calls to strengthen the legislative framework on 
geographical indications and, where appropriate, include specific sustainability 
criter ia. In the Communication, the Commission committed to strengthen, among 
other players, the position of producers of products with geographical indications, 
their cooperatives and producer organisations in the food supply chain.  
(3) In its Communication of 25 November 2020 titled ‘Making the most of the EU’s 
innovative potential – An intellectual property action plan to support the EU’s 
recovery and resilience’, the Commission undertook to look at ways to strengthen, 
modernise, streamline and better enforce geographical indications for agricultural 
products, wine  and spirit drinks.  
(4) The quality and diversity of the Union’s wine, spirit drinks and agricultural production 
is one of its important strengths, giving a competitive advantage to the Union’s 
produc ers and making a major contribution to its living cultural and gastronomic 
heritage. This is due to the skills and determination of Union producers who have kept 
                                                 
20 OJ C XX, XX.X.2022, p. XX.  
21 OJ C XX, XX.X.2022, p. XX.  
22 https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/communication -european -green -deal_en  EN 16  EN traditions alive while taking into account the developments of new production 
methods and mate rial. 
(5) Citizens and consumers in the Union increasingly demand quality as well as traditional 
products. They are also concerned to maintain the diversity of agricultural production 
in the Union. This generates a demand for wine, spirit drinks and agricu ltural products 
with identifiable specific characteristics, in particular those linked to their 
geographical origin.  
(6) The protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data is a 
fundamental right.  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of t he European Parliament and of the 
Council23 provides rules on the protection of natural persons with regard to the 
processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and 
on the free movement of such data. The roles of the Co mmission and of the Member 
States in relation to the processing of personal data in the procedures they are 
competent for need to be clearly defined in order to ensure a high level of protection. 
Processing of personal data is lawful when it is necessary f or the performance of tasks 
carried out in the public interests. Procedures for registration, amendment or 
cancellation of geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed carried 
out in the framework of this Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council24 and Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council25 should be properly carried out. Processing 
references concerning applicants in a registration, amendment or cancellation 
procedure, opponents, beneficiaries of transitional periods and bodies and natural 
persons delegated for certain official control tasks, in the context of the procedures of 
registration, amendment or cancellation of geographical indications and traditional 
specialities guaranteed, is necessary for the correct management of these procedures. 
In addition, those procedures have a public nature. Transparency is necessary to allow 
fair competition between the operators and to publicly identify the private and publ ic 
economic interests linked to these procedures. With a view to minimising the exposure 
of personal data, the documents to be submitted in the course of the relevant 
procedures should as far as possible avoid requirements for submission of personal 
data. Nonetheless, the Commission and the Member States may need to process 
information that contain personal data, such as personal names and contact details. 
Within this framework, for reasons of public interest and in accordance with 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 , the Commission and the Member States should be 
allowed to process such personal data and to disclose or make it public when this is 
needed to identify applicants in a registration, amendment or cancellation procedure, 
opponents in an opposition procedure , beneficiaries of a transitional period granted to 
                                                 
23 Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 3 October 2018 on the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, 
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 
45/2001 and Decision No 1247/ 2002/EC, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39 –98. 
24 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 
establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council 
Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007, OJ L 
347, 20.12.2013, p. 671 –854. 
25 Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the 
definition, description, presentation and labelling of spir it drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in 
the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit 
drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, an d 
repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, OJ L 130, 17.5.2019, p. 1 –54. EN 17  EN derogate to the protection of a registered name and bodies  delegated to carry out the 
verification on compliance with product specification.   
(7) For the purpose of applying Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 the Commission is the 
authority  with whom the owners of personal data  may exercise the  related rights, by 
sending comments, raising  questions or concerns, or submitting a complaint regarding 
the collection and use of the personal data. It should, therefore, be  clarified that the 
Commission is considered the controller within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 
2018/1725 in relation to the processing of personal data in the procedures for which it 
is responsible under this Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Re gulation  (EU) 
2019/787 and the provisions adopted pursuant thereto.    
(8) Regulation (EU) 2016/67926 of the European Parliament and of the Council  applies to 
the processing of personal data carried out by Member States in the course of the 
relevant procedur es. For the purpose of applying that Regulation the competent 
authorities of the Member States are the authorities  with whom the owners of personal 
data may exercise the  related rights, by sending comments, raising  questions or 
concerns, or submitting a co mplaint regarding the collection and use of the personal 
data. It should, therefore, be clarified that the Member States are considered 
controllers within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 in relation to the 
processing of personal data in the procedu res for which they are responsible under this 
Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, Regulation (EU) 2019/787 and the 
provisions adopted pursuant thereto.   
(9) Ensuring uniform recognition and protection throughout the Union for the intellectual 
propert y rights related to names protected in the Union is a priority that can be 
effectively achieved only at Union level. Geographical indications protecting the 
names of  wines, spirit drinks and agricultural products having characteristics, 
attributes or reput ation linked to their place of production are an exclusive Union’s 
competence. A unitary and exclusive system of geographical indications therefore 
needs to be provided. Geographical indications are a collective right held by all 
eligible producers in a de signated area willing to adhere to a product specification. 
Producers acting collectively have more powers than individual producers and take 
collective responsibilities  to manage their geographical indications, including 
responding to societal demands for  products resulting from sustainable 
production.  Operating geographical indications reward producers fairly for their 
efforts to produce a diverse range of quality products. At the same time, this can 
benefit the rural economy, which is particularly the ca se in areas with natural or other 
specific constraints, such as mountain areas and the most remote regions, where the 
farming sector accounts for a significant part of the economy and production costs are 
high. In this way, quality schemes are able to cont ribute to and complement rural 
development policy as well as market and income support policies of the CAP. In 
particular, they may contribute to the developments in the farming sector and, 
especially, disadvantaged areas. A Union framework that protects g eographical 
indications by providing for their inclusion in a register at Union level facilitates the 
development of the agricultural sector, since the resulting, more uniform approach 
ensures fair competition between the producers of products bearing such  indications 
and enhances the credibility of the products in the consumers’ eyes.  The system of 
geographical indications aims at  enabling consumers to make more informed 
purchasing choices and, through labelling and advertising, helping them to correctly 
                                                 
26 reference  EN 18  EN identify their products on the market. Geographical indications, being a type of 
intellectual property right, help operators and companies valorise their intangible 
assets. To avoid creating unfair conditions of competition and to sustain the internal 
marke t, any producer, including a third country producer, should be able to use a 
registered name and market products designated as geographical indications 
throughout the Union and in electronic commerce, provided that the product 
concerned complies with the r equirements of the relevant specification and that the 
producer is covered by a system of controls. In  light of the experience gained from the 
implementation of Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2019/787 and (EU) No 
1151/2012 of the European Parliament a nd of the Council27, there is a need to address 
certain legal issues, to clarify and simplify some rules and to streamline the 
procedures.  
(10) In order to comply with the definition of agricultural products in the international 
framework, i.e. World Trade Organisation, the use of the combined nomenclature 
should be provided for geographical indications.  
(11) The Union has for some time been aiming at simplifying the regulatory framework of 
the Common Agricultural Policy. This approach should also apply to r egulations in the 
field of geographical indications, without calling into question the specific 
characteristics of each sector. In order to simplify the lengthy registration and 
amendment procedures,  harmonised procedural rules for  geographical indications  for 
wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products should be laid down  in a single legal 
instrument, while maintaining product specific provisions for wine  in Regulation (EU) 
No 1308/2013, for spirit drinks in Regulation (EU) 2019/787 and for agricultural 
products in this Regulation. The procedures for the registration, amendments to the 
product specification and cancellation of the registration in respect of  geographical 
indications originating in the Union, including opposition procedures, should 
be carried out by the Member States and the Commission. The Member States and the 
Commission should be  responsible for distinct stages of each procedure. Member 
States should be  responsible for the first stage of the procedure, which consists of 
receiving the appl ication from the producer group, assessing it, including running a 
national opposition procedure, and, following the results of the assessment, submitting 
the application to the Commission. The Commission should be  responsible for 
scrutinising the applicat ion in the second stage of the procedure, including running a 
worldwide opposition procedure, and taking a decision on granting the protection to 
the geographical indication or not. Geographical indications should be registered only 
at Union level. However , with effect from the date of application with the Commission 
for registration at Union level, Member States should be able to grant transitional 
protection at national level without affecting the internal market or international trade. 
The protection aff orded by this Regulation upon registration should be equally 
available to  geographical indications of third countries that meet the corresponding 
criteria and that are protected in their country of origin. The Commission should 
carry  out the corresponding procedures for  geographical indications originating in 
third countries.  
(12) To contribute to the transition to a sustainable food system and respond to societal 
demands for sustainable, environmentally and climate friendly, animal welfare 
ensuring, resour ce efficient, socially and ethically responsible production methods, 
producers of  geographical indications should be encouraged to adhere to sustainability 
                                                 
27 Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 
on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (OJ L 343, 14.12 .2012, p. 1).  EN 19  EN standards that are more stringent than the mandatory ones and go beyond good 
practice. Such specific  requirements could be set out in the product specification.   
(13) To ensure coherent decision -making as regards applications for protection and  judicial 
challenges against them, submitted in the national procedure, the Commission should 
be informed in a t imely and regular manner when procedures are launched before 
national courts or other bodies concerning an application for registration forwarded by 
the Member State to the Commission and of their final results.  For the same reason, 
where a Member State co nsiders that a national decision on which the application for 
protection is based is likely to be invalidated as a result of national judicial 
proceedings, it should inform the Commission of that assessment. If the Member State 
requests the suspension of t he scrutiny of an application at Union level, the 
Commission should be exempted from the obligation to meet the deadline for scrutiny 
established therein.  In order to protect the applicant from vexatious legal actions and 
to preserve the applicant’s right to secure the protection of a name within a reasonable 
time, the exemption should be limited to cases in which the application for registration 
has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final 
judicial decision or in which the Member State considers that the action to challenge 
the validity of the application is based on valid grounds.  
(14) To allow operators, whose interests are affected by the registration of a name, to 
continue to use that name for a limited period of tim e, while contravening 
the protection regime established in Article 27, specific derogations for the use of the 
names in the form of transitional periods should be granted. Such periods can also b e 
allowed to overcome temporary difficulties and with the long -term objective of 
ensuring that all producers comply with the product specification.  
(15) To ensure transparency and uniformity across Member States, it is necessary to 
establish and maintain a n electronic Union register of geographical indications, 
registered as protected designations of origin or protected geographical indications. 
The register should provide information to consumers and to those involved in trade. 
The register should be  an el ectronic database stored within an information system, and 
should be  accessible to the public.   
(16) The Union negotiates international agreements, including those concerning the 
protection of designations of origin and geographical indications, with its t rade 
partners. In order to facilitate the provision to the public of information about the 
names protected by those international agreements, and in particular to ensure 
protection and control of the use to which those names are put, those names may be 
entered in the Union register of geographical indications. Unless specifically identified 
as designations of origin in such international agreements, the names should be 
entered in the register as protected geographical indications.  
(17) For the optimal funct ioning of the internal market, it is important that producers and 
other operators concerned, authorities and consumers  may quickly and easily have 
access to the relevant information concerning a registered protected designation of 
origin or protected geogr aphical indication. This information should include, where 
applicable, the information on the identity of the producer group recognised at national 
level.  
(18) Protection  should be granted to names entered in the Union register of geographical 
indications with the aim of ensuring that they are used fairly and in order to prevent 
practices liable to mislead consumers.  In order to strengthen the protection of 
geographical indications and to combat counterfeiting more effectively, the protection EN 20  EN of designation s of origin and geographical indications should also apply to domain 
names on the internet.  
(19) To establish whether products are comparable to the products registered as a 
geographical indication, account should be taken of all relevant factors. Those sh ould 
include whether the products have common objective characteristics, such as method 
of production, physical appearance or use of the same raw material; under which 
circumstances the products are utilised from the point of view of the relevant public; 
whether they are frequently distributed through the same channels; and whether they 
are subject to similar marketing rules.  
(20) In light of commercial practices and Union jurisprudence clarity is required on  the use 
of a geographical indication in the sale  name of a processed product of which the 
product designated by the  geographical indication is an ingredient. It should be 
ensured that such use is made in accordance with fair  commercial practices and does 
not weaken, dilute or is not detrimental to the r eputation of the product bearing the 
geographical indication. A consent of a large majority of the producers of geographical 
indications concerned should be required to allow such a use.   
(21) Rules concerning the continued use of generic names should be c larified so that 
generic terms that are similar to or form part of a name or term that is protected should 
retain their generic status.  
(22) The scope of the protection granted under this Regulation should be clarified, in 
particular with regard to those l imitations on registration of new trade marks set out in 
Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council28 that 
conflict with the registration of geographical indications.  Such clarification is also 
necessary with regard to the holder s of prior intellectual property rights, in particular 
those concerning trade marks and homonymous names registered as geographical 
indications.  
(23) Producer groups play an essential role in the application process for the registration of 
geographical ind ications, as well as in the amendment of specifications and 
cancellation requests. They should be equipped with the means to better identify and 
market the specific characteristics of their products. The role of the producer group 
should hence be clarified . 
(24) As producers of products bearing geographical indications are mostly small or 
medium size enterprises, they face competition from other operators along the food 
supply chain which can create unfair competition between local producers and those 
opera ting on a more extended  scale. In this context, in the interest  of all the producers 
concerned, it is necessary to allow one single producer  group  to perform specific 
actions in the name of  the producers. To that purpose, the category of the recognised 
producer group should be established, together with the criteria necessary to qualify as 
a recognised producer group and the related specific additional rights, in particular in 
order to  provide recognised producer groups with the right tools to better enforc e their 
intellectual property rights  against unfair practices.  
(25) The relationship between internet domain names  and protection of geographical 
indications  should be clarified as regards the scope of the application of the remedy 
measures, the recognitio n of geographical indications in  dispute resolution, and the 
fair use of domain names. Persons having a legitimate interest on a geographical 
indication applied for registration before the registration of the domain name should be 
                                                 
28 OJ L 336, 23.12.2015, p.1.  EN 21  EN empowered to request for the revocation or the transfer of the domain name in case of 
conflict.  
(26) The relationship between trademarks and geographical indications should be clarified 
in relation to criteria for the rejection of trademark applications, the invalidation of 
tradem arks and the coexistence between trademarks and geographical indications.  
(27) In order to avoid creating unfair conditions of competition, any producer, including a 
third -country producer, should be able to use a registered geographical indication, 
provid ed that the product concerned complies with the requirements of the relevant 
product specification or single document or an equivalent to the latter, i.e. a complete 
summary of the product specification.  The system set up by the Member States should 
also g uarantee that producers complying with the rules are entitled to be covered by 
the verification of compliance of the product specification.  
(28) The symbols, indications and abbreviations identifying a registered geographical 
indication, and the rights the rein pertaining to the Union, should be protected in the 
Union as well as in third countries with the aim of ensuring that they are used on 
genuine products and that consumers are not misled as to the qualities of products.   
(29) The labelling of wine, spi rit drinks and agricultural products should be subject to the 
general rules laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council29, and in particular the provisions aimed at preventing labelling that 
may confuse or mislead  consumers.  
(30) The use of Union  symbols or indications on the packaging of products designated by a 
geographical indication  should be made obligatory in order to make this category of 
products, and the guarantees attached to them, better known to consume rs and to 
permit easier identification of these products on the market, thereby facilitating 
checks. However, in view of the  specific nature of products covered by this 
Regulation, special provisions concerning labelling should be maintained for wine 
and spirit drinks. The use of such symbols or indications should remain voluntary for 
third country geographical indications and designations of origin.  
(31) The added value of the geographical indications is based on consumer trust. The 
system of geographical indications significantly relies on self -control, due diligence 
and individual responsibility of producers, while it is the role of the competent 
authorities of the Member States to take the necessary steps to prevent or stop the use 
of names of products, which are in breach of the rules governing geographical 
indications. The role of the Commission is to intervene in case of a systemic failure to 
apply Union law. Geographical indications should be subject to the system of official 
controls, in line with th e principles set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council30, which should include a system of controls 
at all stages of production, processing and distribution. Each operator should be 
subject to a control system that verifies compliance with the product specification. 
Taking into account that wine is subject to specific controls defined in the sectoral 
legislation, this Regulation should lay down controls for spirit drinks and agricultural 
products only.  
(32) In order to ensure that they are impartial and effective, the competent authorities 
designated to perform the verification of the compliance with the product 
specification  should meet a number of operational criteria. Provisions on delegating 
                                                 
29 OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 18.  
30 OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1.  EN 22  EN some competences of pe rforming specific control tasks to product certification bodies 
should be envisaged to facilitate the task of the control authorities and make the 
system more effective.   
(33) Information on the competent authorities and product certification bodies should  be 
made public to ensure the transparency and allow interested parties to contact them.  
(34) European standards developed by the European Committee for Standardisation 
and international standards developed by the International Organisation for 
Standardisa tion should be used for the accreditation of the control bodies as well as by 
those bodies for their operations. The accreditation of those bodies should take place 
in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of 
the Counci l31. 
(35) Enforcement of geographical indications in the marketplace is important to prevent 
fraudulent and deceptive practices thus ensuring that producers are properly rewarded 
for the added value of their products bearing a geographical indication and th at illegal 
users of those geographical indications are prevented from  selling their products. 
Controls should be carried out based on risk assessment or notifications from 
operators, and appropriate administrative and judicial steps should be taken to prev ent 
or stop the use of names on products or services that contravene the protected 
geographical indications.  
(36) Online platforms have become increasingly used for sales of products, including of 
those designated as geographical indications, and in some c ases they might represent 
an important space as regards preventing fraud. In this regard, this Regulation should 
establish rules to ensure appropriate labelling of products sold via online platforms, 
and to provide powers to Member States to disable access  to the content that 
contravenes the rules. These rules should be without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 
2022/XX of the European Parliament and of the Council32. 
(37) Taking into account that a product designated by the geographical indication produced 
in one Member State might be sold in another Member State, administrative assistance 
between Member States should be ensured to allow effective controls and its 
practicalities should be laid down.  
(38) For the optimal functioning of the internal market, it is  important that producers 
quickly and easily demonstrate in several contexts that they are authorised to use a 
protected name, such as at customs controls, market inspections or on demand by trade 
operators. For this purpose, an official certificate, or ot her proof of certification, of 
entitlement to produce the product designated by a geographical indication should be 
put at the disposal of the producer.  
(39) The procedures for registration, amendment and cancellation of geographical 
indications, including  the scrutiny and the opposition procedure, should be  carried out 
in the most  efficient way. This can be achieved by using the assistance for the scrutiny 
of the applications provided by the European Union Intellectual Property Office 
(EUIPO). While a part ial outsourcing to EUIPO  has been considered, the Commission 
would remain  responsible for registration, amendment and cancellation, due to a 
strong relation with the Common Agricultural Policy and to the expertise needed to 
                                                 
31 OJ L 218, 13.8.2008, p. 30.  
32 Regulation (EU) […] of the European Parliament and of the Council of […] on a Single Market For 
Digital Services (DSA) an d amending Directive 2000/31/EC (OJ L …, XXX, dd/mm/yyyy, p. X).  EN 23  EN ensure that specificities of win e, spirit drinks and agricultural products are adequately 
assessed.  
(40) Criteria should be set to assess the performance of the EUIPO. These criteria should 
ensure quality, coherence and efficiency of the assistance provided. The Commission 
should prepar e a report to the Parliament and to the Council on the results and 
experience of the  execution of these tasks by the  EUIPO.  
(41) In the light of existing practice, the two different instruments for identifying the link 
between the product and its geographi cal origin, namely the designation of origin and 
the geographical indication, should be maintained. Rules for and definitions of plant 
varieties and animal breeds should be clarified to better understand their articulation 
with geographical indications in case of conflict. Rules on sourcing of feed and of raw 
materials should remain unchanged.  
(42) A product bearing a geographical indication should meet certain conditions set out in 
the product specification. For such information to be easily understandable  also to 
interested parties, the product specification should be summarised in a single 
document.  
(43) To implement the rules related to geographical indications, the Commission should be 
assisted by a committee, composed by the delegates of the Member Sta tes. 
(44) The specific objective of the scheme for traditional specialities guaranteed is to help 
the producers of traditional products to communicate to consumers the value -adding 
attributes of their product. In order to avoid creating unfair conditions o f competition, 
any producer, including a producer from a third country, should be able to use a 
registered name of a traditional speciality guaranteed, provided that the product 
concerned complies with the requirements of the relevant specification and the  
producer is covered by a system of controls.  
(45) As only a few names have been registered, the current scheme for traditional 
specialities guaranteed has failed to realise its potential. Current provisions should 
therefore be improved, clarified and shar pened in order to make the scheme more 
understandable, operational and attractive to potential applicants. To ensure that names 
of genuine traditional products are registered, the criteria and conditions for 
registration of a name should be adapted, in par ticular by removing the condition that 
traditional specialities guaranteed have a specific character.  
(46) To ensure that  traditional specialities guaranteed comply with their specification and 
are consistent, producers organised into groups should themsel ves define the product 
in a specification. The option of registering a name as a traditional speciality 
guaranteed should be open to third country producers.  
(47) To ensure transparency, the  traditional specialities guaranteed should be entered in the 
register. 
(48) In order to avoid creating unfair conditions of competition, any producer, including a 
producer from a third country, should be able to use a registered name of a traditional 
speciality guaranteed, provided that the product concerned complies wi th the 
requirements of the relevant specification and the producer is covered by a system of 
controls. For traditional specialities guaranteed produced within the Union, the Union 
symbol should be indicated on the labelling and it should be possible to ass ociate it 
with the indication ‘traditional speciality guaranteed’. The use of the names, the Union 
symbol and the indication should be regulated to ensure a uniform approach across the 
internal market.  EN 24  EN (49) Traditional specialities guaranteed  should be eff ectively protected on the market so 
that their producers are properly rewarded for their added value and that illegal users 
of traditional specialities guaranteed are prevented from selling their products.   
(50) In order not to mislead the consumers, regis tered traditional specialities guaranteed 
should be protected against any  misuse or  imitation, including as regards products 
used as ingredients, or against any other practice liable to mislead the consumer. 
Pursuing the same objective, rules should be lai d down for specific uses of traditional 
specialities guaranteed, notably as regards the use of terms that are generic in the 
Union, labelling which contains or comprises the denomination  of a plant variety or 
animal breed and trade marks.  
(51) Participatio n in the traditional speciality guaranteed  scheme should ensure that any 
operator complying with the rules of this scheme is entitled to be covered by the 
verification of compliance with the product specification.  
(52) The procedures for the registration, amendments to the product specification and the 
cancellation of the registration in respect of traditional specialities guaranteed 
originating in the Union, including opposition procedures, should be  carried out by the 
Member States and the Commission. The  Member States and the Commission should 
be responsible for distinct stages of each procedure. Member States should 
be responsible for the first stage of the procedure, which consists of receiving the 
application from the producer group, assessing it, incl uding running a national 
opposition procedure, and, following the results of the assessment, submitting the 
Union application to the Commission. The Commission should be  responsible for 
scrutinising the application, including running a worldwide opposition  procedure, and 
taking a decision on granting the traditional specialities guaranteed protection or not. 
The protection afforded by this Regulation upon registration should be equally 
available to traditional specialities guaranteed of third countries that  meet the 
corresponding criteria and that are protected in their country of origin. The 
Commission should also carry  out the corresponding procedures for traditional 
specialities guaranteed originating in third countries.  
(53) The optional quality terms sc heme was introduced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 
It refers to specific horizontal characteristics, of one or more categories of products, 
farming methods or processing attributes which apply in specific areas. The optional 
quality term ‘mountain produc t’ has met the conditions laid down for optional quality 
terms and was established by that Regulation. It has provided mountain producers with 
an effective tool to better market their product and to reduce the actual risks of 
consumer confusion as to the m ountain provenance of products on the market. The 
possibility for producers to use optional quality terms should be maintained, as the 
scheme has not yet fully met its potential in the Member States due to a short time of 
its application.  
(54) To implement  the rules related to traditional specialities guaranteed and optional 
quality terms, laid down in this Regulation, the Commission should be assisted by a 
committee, composed of the delegates of the Member States.  
(55) Provisions concerning geographical in dications in Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, 
concerning the wine sector, and (EU) 2019/787, concerning the spirit drinks sector, 
need to be amended in order to align them to the common rules on registration, 
amendment, opposition, cancellation, protection a nd controls of the geographical 
indications set out in this Regulation. In particular for wine, additional changes are 
needed to the definition of protected geographical indications in line with the Trade EN 25  EN Related Agreement on Intellectual Property. For rea sons of consistency with this 
Regulation, the provision on the tasks of the EUIPO laid down in Regulation (EU) 
2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council33 should also be amended.  
(56) In order to supplement or amend certain non -essential eleme nts of this Regulation, the 
power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of 
the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in respect of defining 
sustainability standards and laying down criteria for the rec ognition of existing 
sustainability standards; clarifying or adding items to be supplied as part of 
accompanying information; entrusting the EUIPO with the tasks related to scrutiny for 
opposition and the opposition procedure, operation of the register, pu blication of 
standard amendments to a product specification, consultation in the context of 
cancellation procedure, establishment and management of an alert system informing 
applicants about the availability of their geographical indication as a domain nam e, 
scrutiny of third country geographical indications other than geographical indications 
under the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and 
Geographical Indications34, proposed for protection pursuant to international 
negotiations o r international agreements; establishing  appropriate criteria for 
monitoring performance of  the EUIPO in the execution of the tasks entrusted to it; 
laying down additional rules on the use of geographical indications to identify 
ingredients in processed pr oducts; laying down additional rules for determining the 
generic status of terms; establishing the restrictions and derogations with regard to the 
sourcing of feed in the case of a designation of origin; establishing restrictions and 
derogations with regar d to the slaughtering of live animals or with regard to the 
sourcing of raw materials; laying down rules for determining the use of the 
denomination  of a plant variety or of an animal breed; laying down rules which limit 
the information contained in the pr oduct specification for geographical indications and 
traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down further details of the eligibility criteria 
for traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down additional rules to provide for 
appropriate certification  and accreditation procedures to apply in respect of product 
certification bodies; laying down additional rules to further detail protection of 
traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down for  traditional specialities guaranteed 
additional rules for de termining the generic status of terms, conditions for use of plant 
variety and animal breed denominations , and relation to intellectual property rights; 
defining additional  rules for joint applications concerning more than one national 
territory  and comple menting the rules of the application process for  traditional 
specialities guaranteed guaranteed; complementing the rules for the opposition 
procedure for  traditional specialities guaranteed to establish detailed  procedures 
and deadlines; supplementing the rules regarding the amendment application process 
for traditional specialities guaranteed; supplementing the rules regarding the 
cancellation process for traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down detailed rules 
relating to the criteria for optional quality terms; reserving an additional optional 
quality term, laying down its conditions of use; laying down derogations to the use of 
the term ‘mountain product’ and establishing the methods of production, and other 
criteria relevant for the application o f that optional quality term, in particular, laying 
down the conditions under which raw materials or feedstuffs are permitted to come 
from outside the mountain areas. It is of particular importance that the Commission 
carry out appropriate consultations du ring its preparatory work, including at expert 
                                                 
33 Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the 
European Union trade mark (OJ L 154, 16.6.2017, p. 1).  
34 https://www.wipo.int/publications/en/ details.jsp?id=3983  EN 26  EN level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid 
down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law -Making35. In 
particular, to ensure equal participa tion in the preparation of delegated acts, the 
European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as 
Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of 
Commission expert groups dealing with the prepa ration of delegated acts.            
(57) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, 
implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards defining the 
technical presentation of, and online access to, the  classification of the products 
designated by geographical indications according to the combined nomenclature; 
defining a harmonised presentation of sustainability undertakings; defining the format 
and online presentation of the accompanying documentation and providing  for the 
exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data; laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presentation of Union applications for registration, including 
for applications concerning more than one national territory;  defining the format and 
online presentation of oppositions and official comments and providing  for the 
exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data; granting a transitional period to 
allow the use of a registered name  alongside other names  that w ould otherwise 
contravene with a registered name and extending such transitional period; rejecting the 
application; deciding on the registration of a geographical indication if an agreement 
has not been reached; registering of geographical indications pert aining to products of 
third countries that are protected in the Union under an international agreement, to 
which the Union is a contracting party; defining the content and presentation of the 
Union register of geographical indications; defining the format and online presentation 
of extracts from the Union register of geographical indications, and  providing for the 
exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data; laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, form and presentation of applications for a Unio n amendment and on 
procedures, the form and communication to the Commission of a standard 
amendment; cancelling the registration of a geographical indication; laying down 
detailed rules on procedures and form of the cancellation of a registration and on th e 
presentation of the cancellation requests; establishing the Union symbols for 
geographical indications,  defining the technical characteristics of the Union symbols 
and indications as well as the rules of their use on products marketed under a 
registered geographical indication, including rules concerning the appropriate 
linguistic versions to be used; detailing the nature and the type of the information to be 
exchanged and the methods for exchanging information under mutual assistance for 
the purpose of c ontrols and enforcement; laying down rules on the form of the product 
specification of geographical indications of agricultural products; defining the format 
and online presentation of the single document of geographical indications of 
agricultural product s and providing  for the exclusion or anonymisation of protected 
personal data; for traditional specialities guaranteed: laying down rules on the form of 
the product specification; laying down detailed rules on the form and content of the 
Union register of traditional specialities guaranteed; establishing the Union symbol of 
traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down rules for the uniform protection of the 
indications, abbreviations and the Union symbol, rules on their use and on the 
technical characte ristics of the Union symbol; laying down procedural and formal 
requirements for the protection of traditional specialities guaranteed; laying down 
detailed rules on procedures, the form and presentation of applications for registration, 
                                                 
35 OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.  EN 27  EN including for appli cations concerning more than one national territory, of oppositions 
and of applications for amendments of a product specification and applications for 
cancellation of a registration; transitional periods for use of traditional specialities 
guaranteed; reje cting an application for registration; deciding on the registration of a 
traditional speciality guaranteed if an agreement has not been reached; cancelling the 
registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed;  for optional quality terms and 
schemes: lay ing down technical details necessary for the notification of the optional 
quality terms and schemes; laying down rules  related to forms, procedures or other 
technical details; laying down rules for the use of optional quality terms. Those powers 
should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council36.             
(58) The Commission should be empowered to adopt implementing acts without applying 
Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 in respect of: registering a name if there is no 
admissible opposition or in case of an admissible opposition, where the agreement has 
been reached for geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed and if 
necessary amending the information published, provided that  these amendments are 
not substantial; establishing and maintaining a publicly accessible electronic register 
of geographical indications and electronic register of traditional specialities 
guaranteed; granting a transitional period for use of geographical  indications following 
an opposition lodged in the national procedure;  cancelling the geographical indications 
registered in breach with a wholly or partly homonymous geographical indication 
already applied for or registered;  defining the means by which th e name and address of 
competent authorities and product certification bodies are to be made public for 
traditional specialities guaranteed.  
(59) Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/787 should therefore 
be amended accordingly and Reg ulation (EU) No 1151/2012 should be repealed.    
(60) The protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional 
specialities guaranteed already registered under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the 
protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications already 
registered under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and the geographical indications 
already registered under Regulation (EU) 2019/787 should continue to be protected 
under this Regulation, and they should be  automatically included in the respective 
register.  
(61) Provisions should be made for appropriate arrangements to facilitate a smooth 
transition from the rules provided for in Regulations (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 
1308/2013 and (EU) 2019/787 to the rules  laid down in this Regulation,  
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Title I  
General provisions  
Article 1  
Subject matter  
This Regulation lays down the  rules on:  
(a) geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products.  
                                                 
36 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.  EN 28  EN (b) traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality  terms for agricultural products.   
Article 2  
Definitions  
1. For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:  
(a) ‘producer group’ means any association, irrespective of its legal form, m ainly 
composed of producers or processors of the same product;  
(b) ‘traditional’ and ‘tradition’, associated with a product originating in a 
geographical area, means proven historical usage by producers in a community 
for a period that allows transmission between generations; this period is to be 
at least 30 years and the said usage may embrace modifications necessitated by 
changing hygiene and safety practices;  
(c) the definition of ‘labelling’ in Article 2(2), point (j), of Regulation (EU) No 
1169/2011;  
(d) ‘production step’ means any stage of production, processing, preparation or 
ageing, up to the point where the product is in a form to be placed on the 
internal market;  
(e) ‘processed products’ means food  resulting from the processing of unprocessed 
products within the meaning of Article 2 (m) and (o) of Regulation 852/2004;  
(f) ‘product certification bodies’  means bodies  within the meaning of Title II, 
Chapter III, of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 which certify that products 
designated by geographical indicat ions or traditional specialities 
guaranteed  comply with the product specification.  
(g) ‘generic term’ means:  
(i) the name of products which, although relating to the place, region or 
country where a product was originally produced or marketed, have become 
the common name of a product in the Union;  and 
(ii) a common term descriptive of types of products, product attributes or other 
terms that do not refer to specific product;  
(h) 'plant variety  denomination ’ means a a designation of a given variety , that is in 
common use or officially registered pursuant to Council Directives 
2002/53/EC37, 2002/55/EC38, 2008/90/EC39 or Council Regulation (EU) No 
2100/9440, in the language or languages they are so used or listed, at the date of 
application for the registration of the geographical indication concerned;   
(i) 'animal breed  denomination ’ means the names of breeds in the meaning of 
Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 of the European Parliament and of the 
                                                 
37 Council Directive 2002/53/EC of 13 June 2002 on the common catalogue of varieties of agricultural 
plant species (OJ L 193, 20.7.2002, p. 1).  
38 Council Directive 2002/55/EC of 13 June 2002 on the marketing of vegetable seed (OJ L 193, 
20.7.2002, p. 33).  
39 Council Directive 2008/90/EC of 29 September 2008 on the marketing of fruit plant propagating 
material and fruit plants intended for fruit prod uction (OJ L 267, 8.10.2008, p. 8).  
40 Council Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 of 27 July 1994 on Community plant variety rights (OJ L 227, 
1.9.1994, p. 1)  EN 29  EN Council41 that are listed in breeding books or breeding register s, in the 
language or languages they are so listed, at the date of application for the 
registration of the geographical indication concerned.  
Article 3  
Data protection  
1. The Commission and the Member States shall process and make public the personal 
data received in the course of the procedures for registration, approval of 
amendments, cancellation, opposition, granting of transitional period and control 
pursuant to this Regulation, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and  Regulation (EU) 
2019/787, in accordance w ith Regulations (EU) 2018/1725 and (EU) 2016/679.   
2. The Commission shall be a controller within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 
2018/1725 in relation to the processing of personal data in the procedure it is 
competent for in accordance with Regulation (EU ) 2019/787, Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2021/123542 and this Regulation.  
3. The competent authorities of the Member States shall be controllers within the 
meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 in relation to the processing of personal data 
in the procedures they are competent for in accordance with Regulation (EU) 
2019/787, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1235 and this Regulation.  
Title II  
Geographical indications  
Chapter 1  
General provisions  
Article 4  
Objectives  
1. This Title provides for a unitary  and exclusive system of  geographical indications, 
protecting the names of  wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products having 
characteristics, attributes or  reputation linked to their place of production, thereby 
ensuring the following:  
(a) producers act ing collectively have the necessary powers and responsibilities  to 
manage their geographical indication, including to respond to societal demands 
for products resulting from sustainable production in its three dimensions of 
economic, environmental and soci al value, and to operate in the market;   
(b) fair competition for producers in the marketing chain;  
                                                 
41 Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on 
zootechnical and genealogical conditions for the breeding, trade in and entry into the Union of purebred 
breeding animals, hybrid breeding pigs and the germinal products thereof and amending Regulation 
(EU) No 652/2014, Council Directives 89/608/EEC and 90/425/EEC and repealing certain acts in the 
area of animal breeding (‘Animal Breeding Regulation’) (OJ L 171, 29.6.2016, p. 66).  
42 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1235 of 12 May 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 
2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules concerning applications for 
registration of geographical indications of spirit drinks, amendments to product specifications, 
cancellation of the registration and the register (OJ L 270, 29.7.2021, p. 1).  EN 30  EN (c) consumers receive reliable information and a guarantee of authenticity of such 
products and can readily identify them in the marketplace including in 
electronic commerce;  
(d) efficient registration of geographical indications taking into account 
the appropriate protection of intellectual property rights; and  
(e) effective enforcement and marketing throughout the Union and in electronic 
commerce ensuring t he integrity of the internal market.  
Article 5  
Scope  
1. This Title covers wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, including foodstuffs 
and fishery and aquaculture products, listed under Chapters 1 to 23 of the combined 
nomenclature set out in Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/8743, and the 
additional agricultural products under the combined nomenclature headings and 
codes set out in Annex I to this Regulation.  
2. The registration  and the protection of geographical indications is  without prej udice to 
the obligation of producers to comply with other Union rules, in particular those 
relating to the  placing of products on the market, sanitary and phytosanitary rules, the 
common organisation of the markets, the competition rules and the provision  of food 
information to consumers.  
3. Directive (EU) 2015/1535  of the European Parliament and of the Council44 shall not 
apply to the system of geographical indications laid down in this Regulation.  
Article 6  
Classification  
1. Products designated by geograph ical indications shall be classified according to the 
combined nomenclature at two, four or six digit level. Where a geographical 
indication covers products of more than one category, each entry  shall be specified. 
Product classification shall only be used  for registration, statistical and record 
keeping purposes. The said classification shall not be used to determine comparable 
products for the purposes of protection against direct and indirect commercial use 
referred to in Article 27(1), point (a).  
2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts defining the technical presentation 
of, and online access to, the classification referred to in paragraph 1. Those 
implementing acts  shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure 
referred to in  Article 53 (2) 
Article 7  
Definitions  
1. For the purposes of this Title the following definitions shall appl y: 
                                                 
43 Council Regulation (EEC) No 265 8/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on 
the Common Customs Tariff (OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1).  
44 Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying 
down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations 
and of rules on Information Society services (OJ L 241, 17.9.2015, p. 1).  EN 31  EN (a) ‘geographical indication’, unless otherwise stated, means  designations of origin 
and geographical indications of wine, as defined in Article 93 of Regulation 
(EU) No 1308/2013, designations of origin and geographical indications of 
agricultural prod ucts, as defined in Article 48of this Regulation and 
geographical indications of spirit drinks, as defined in Article 3(4) of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/787, that are applied for or entered in the Unio n register 
of geographical indications referred to in Article 23; 
(b) ‘wine’  means the products referred to  in Part II, points 1, 3 to 6, 8, 9, 11, 15 
and 16 of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 13 08/2013;  
(c) 'spirit drinks' as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787;  
(d) ‘agricultural products’ means products referred to in Article 5(1) excluding 
wine and spirit drinks;  
(e) ‘combined nomenclature’  means the goods nomenclature established by Article 
1 of Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87;  
(f) ‘recognised producer group’ means a formal association having legal 
personality and recognised by the competent national authorities as the sole 
group to act on behalf of all producers;  
(g) ‘producer’  means an operator engaged in any production step of a product 
protected by  a geographical indication, including  processing activities, covered 
by the product specification;  
Chapter 2  
Registration of geographical indications  
Article 8  
Applicant  
1. Applications fo r the registration of geographical indications  may only be submitted 
by a producer group of a product ('applicant producer group'), the name of which is 
proposed for registration. Regional or local public bodies  may help in the preparation 
of the applicati on and in the related procedure.   
2. An authority designated by a Member State may be deemed to be an applicant 
producer  group for the purposes of this Title, with respect to  geographical indications 
of a spirit drink, if it is not feasible for the produce rs concerned to form a group by 
reason of their number, geographical location  or organisational characteristics.  In 
such case, the application referred to in Article 9 (2) shall state those reasons.  
3. A single producer  may be deemed to be an applicant producer group for the purposes 
of this Title where it is shown that both of the following conditions are fulfilled:  
(a) the person concerned is the only producer willing to submit an application for 
the registration of a geographical indication; and  
(b) the geographical area concerned is defined by natural features without 
reference to property  boundaries and has  characteristics which differ 
appreciably from those of neighbou ring areas or the characteristics of the 
product are different from those produced in neighbouring areas.  EN 32  EN 4. In the case of a geographical indication that designates a cross -border geographical 
area, several producer groups from different Member States or third  countries may 
lodge a joint  application for the registration of a geographical indication.  
Article 9  
National stage of the procedure of registration   
1. An application  for the registration of a geographical indication  concerning a 
product  originating  in the Union shall be addressed to the competent  authorities of 
the Member State in which the product originates.  
2. The application  referred to in paragraph (1) shall comprise:  
(a) the product specification provided for in Article 11 ; 
(b) the single document provided for in Article 13; 
(c) the accompanying documen ts referred to in Article 14 (1) points b), c) and d).  
3. The Member State shall scrutinise the application for registration in order to check 
that it meets the conditions for registrat ion of the respective provisions for wine, 
spirit drinks or agricultural products as appropriate.  
4. As part of the scrutiny referred to in paragraph (3), the Member State shall conduc t a 
national opposition procedure. The national opposition procedure shall 
ensure  publication of the application for registration and provide for a period of at 
least 2  months from the date of publication within which any natural or legal person 
having a l egitimate interest and established or resident on the  territory of the Member 
State in which the product concerned originates  may lodge an opposition to the 
application for registration  with that Member State.  
5. The Member State shall establish the modali ties of the opposition procedure. These 
modalities may include criteria for the admissibility of an opposition, a period of 
consultation between the applicant producer group and each opponent, and 
submission of a report from the applicant producer group on  the outcome of the 
consultations including any changes the applicant producer group has made to the 
application for registration.  
6. If, after the  scrutiny of the application for registration and the assessment of the 
results of any opposition  received  and any changes to the application agreed with the 
applicant producer group, the Member State considers  that the requirements of this 
Regulation are met, it may  take a favourable decision and lodge a Union application 
as referred to in Article 15. 
7. The Member State shall ensure that its decision, be it favourable or not, is made 
public and that any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest has an 
opportunity to lodge an appeal. The Memb er State shall also ensure that the product 
specification on which its favourable decision is based is published, and shall provide 
electronic access to the product specification.  
Article 10  
Transitional national protection  EN 33  EN 1. A Member State may, on a temp orary basis, grant transitional protection to a name at 
national level, with effect from the date on which a Union  application for registration 
is lodged with the Commission.  
2. Such national protection shall cease on the date on which either the implement ing act 
deciding on the application for registration, adopted in accordance with Article 22, 
enters into force  or the application for registration is withdrawn.  
3. Where a name is not registered under this Regulation, the consequences of the 
transitional  national protection shall be the sole responsibility of the Member State 
concerned.  
4. The measures taken by Member States in accordance with this Article shall produce 
effects at national level only, and they shall have no effect on the internal market or 
in international trade.  
Article 11  
Product specification  
For the purposes of this Title, the ‘product specification’ of a geographical indication shall be 
the document referred to in:  
(a) Article 94 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for wine;  
(b) Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 for spirit drinks;  
(c) Article 51 of this Regulation for agricultural products.  
Article 12  
Sustaina bility undertakings  
1. A producer group may agree on sustainability undertakings to be adhered to in the 
production of the product designated by a geographical indication. Such undertakings 
shall aim to apply a sustainability standard higher than mandated by Union or 
national law and go beyond good practice in significant respects in terms of social, 
environmental or  economic undertakings. Such undertakings shall be specific, shall 
take account of existing sustainable practices employed for products designa ted by 
geographical indications, and may refer to existing sustainability schemes.  
2. The sustainability undertakings referred to in paragraph (1) shall be included in the 
product spec ification.  
3. The sustainability undertakings referred to in paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice 
to requirements for compliance with hygiene, safety standards and competition rules.  
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accorda nce 
with Article 84 defining sustainability standards in different sectors and laying down 
criteria for the recognition of existing sustainability standards to which producers of 
products designa ted by geographical indications may adhere.   
5. The Commission may adopt implementing acts defining a harmonised presentation 
of sustainability undertakings. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in 
accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53 (2). EN 34  EN Article 13  
Single document  
1. The ‘single document’ for  a geographical indication refers to:  
(a) the document summarising the product specification referred to in Art icle 94  of 
Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for wine;  
(b) the document referred to in Article 23 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 for spirit 
drinks;  
(c) the document referred to in  Article 52 of this Regu lation for agricultural 
products.  
Article 14  
Accompanying documentation  
1. The documentation accompanying the application for registration shall comprise:  
(a) information concerning any proposed limitations on the use or on the 
protection of the geographic al indication, and, where relevant, any transitional 
measures, proposed by the applicant producer group or by the national 
authorities notably following the national scrutiny and opposition procedure;  
(b) the name and contact details of the applicant produ cer group;  
(c) the name and contact details of the competent authority and/or product 
certification body verifying compliance with the provisions of the product 
specification pursuant to:  
(i) Article 116a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards wine;  
(ii)  Article 39 of this Regulation as regards agricultural products and spirit 
drinks;  
(d) any other information deemed appropriate by the Member State, or by the 
applicant producer group where applicable.  
2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing  this Regulation by provisions clarifying the requirements 
or listing additiona l items of the accompanying documentation to be supplied.  
3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts defining the format and online 
presentation of the accompanying documentation provided for in paragraph (1), and 
on the exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data. Those implementing 
acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in 
Article 53 (2). 
Article 15  
Union application for registration  
1. For geographical indications concerning  products originating in the Union, the Union 
application for registration shall comprise:    
(a) the single document referred to in Article 13; 
(b) the accompanying documentation referred to in Article 14; EN 35  EN (c) a declaration by th e Member State to which the application was initially 
addressed, confirming that the application meets the conditions for registration; 
and 
(d) the electronic publication reference of the product specification which shall be 
maintained up to date.  
2. For g eographical indications concerning  products originating outside the Union, the 
Union application for registration shall comprise:  
(a) the product specification with its publication reference,  
(b) the single document referred to in Article 13; 
(c) the accompanying documentation referred to in Article 14;  
(d) legal proof of protection of the geographical indication in its country of 
origi n; and 
(e) a power of attorney where the applicant is represented by an agent.  
3. A joint application for registration  referred to in  Article 8 (4) shall be submitted by 
one of the  Membe r States concerned  or by an applicant producer group in a 
third  country, directly or through the authorities of that third  country.  
4. The joint application for registration referred to in  Article 8 (4) shall include, as 
relevant, the documents  listed in paragraph  (1) or (2)  from all Member States or third 
countries concerned.  The related national procedures, including the opposition stage, 
shall be carried out in all the Member States co ncerned.  
5. The documents referred to in this Article shall be drafted in one of the official 
languages of the Union.  
6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
with Article 84 defining procedures and conditions applicable to the preparation and 
submission  of Union applications for registration.  
7. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presentation of Union  applications for registration, 
including for applications concerning more than one national territory. Those 
implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure 
referred to in  Article 53 (2) . 
Article 16  
Submission of the Union application for registration   
1. A Union  application for the registration of a  geographical indication shall be 
submitted to the Commission  electronically, through  a digital system. The digital 
system shall have the capacity to allow the submission  of applications to national 
authorities of a Member State, and to be used by the Member State in its national 
procedure.  
2. Where the application for registration  relates to a geographical area outside the 
Union, the application shall be submitted to  the Commission, either directly or via 
the authorities of the third country concerned. The digital system, referred to in 
paragraph 1, shall have the capacity to allow submission  of applications  by an 
applicant producer group established outside the Union and by national authorities in 
the third country concerned.  EN 36  EN 3. The Union application for registration shall be made public by the Commission 
through  the digital system referred to in  paragraph (1).  
Article 17  
Scrutiny by the Commission and publication for opposition  
1. The Commission shall scrutinise any application for registration that it receives 
pursuant to  Article 16 (1). Such scrutiny shall consist of a check that there are no 
manifest errors, that the information provided in accordance with Article 15 is 
complete and that the single document referred to in  Article 13 is precise and 
technical in nature. It shall take into account the outcome of the national procedure 
carried out by the Member State concerned. It  shall focus in particular on  the single 
document referred to in  Article 13. 
2. Scrutiny should  not exceed a period of 6 months. In the event that the scrutiny period 
exceeds or is likely to exceed 6 months the Commission sh all inform the applicant of 
the reasons for the delay in writing.  
3. The Commission may seek supplementary information from the applicant.  
4. Where, based on the scrutiny carried out pursuant to paragraph 1, the Commission 
considers that the conditions lai d down in this Regulation and in  Regulations (EU) 
No 1308/2013 and  (EU) 2019/787, as appropriate,  are fulfilled, it shall publish in the 
Official Journal of the European Union  the single document and the reference to the 
publication of the product specific ation.  
5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation  by rules on entrusting EUIPO with 
the tasks set out in this Article . 
Article 18  
National challenge to an application for registration  
1. Member States shall keep the Commission informed of any national administrative 
or judicial proceedings that may affect the registration of a geographical indication.  
2. The Commission s hall be exempted from the obligation to meet the deadline to 
perform the scrutiny referred to in Article 17 (2) and to inform the applicant of the 
reasons for the delay where it receive s a communication from a Member State, 
concerning an application for registration  in accordance with Article 9 (6), which:  
(a) informs the Commission that the decision referred to in Art icle 9 (6) has been 
invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final judicial 
decision; or  
(b) requests the Commission to suspend the scrutiny because national ad ministrative 
or judicial proceedings have been initiated to challenge the validity of 
the application  and the Member State considers that those proceedings are based on 
valid grounds.  
3. The exemption shall have effect until the Commission is informed by t he Member 
State that the original application has been restored or that the Member State 
withdraws its request for suspension.  EN 37  EN 4. If the application  has been invalidated by a final decision taken by a national court, 
the Member State shall consider appropriate action such as withdrawal or 
modification of the Union application for registration, as necessary.  
Article 19  
Union opposition procedure  
1. Within 3  months from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European 
Union  of the single  document and the reference to the product specification pursuant 
to Article 17 (4), the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural 
or legal person having a legit imate interest, established or resident  in a third country, 
may lodge an opposition or a notice of comment with the Commission.  
2. Any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a 
Member State other than the one  from w hich the Union application for registration 
was submitted, may lodge an opposition with the Member State, in which it is 
established or resident, within a time limit permitting an opposition or notice of 
comments to be lodged pursuant to paragraph (1). 
3. An opposition shall claim  that the application could infringe the conditions laid down 
in this Regulation, Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 or  (EU) 2019/787, as 
appropriate, and give reas ons. An opposition that does not contain the said 
claim  shall be void.   
4. The Commission shall check the admissibility of the opposition. If the Commission 
considers that the opposition is admissible, it shall, within 5 months from the date of 
publication  in the Official Journal of the European Union  invite the authority or the 
person that lodged the opposition and the authority or the applicant producer group 
that lodged the application to engage in appropriate consultations for a reasonable 
period that s hall not exceed 3  months. At any time during that period, the 
Commission may, at the request of the authority or the applicant producer group, 
extend the deadline for the consultations by a maximum of 3  months.  
5. The authority or the person that lodged th e opposition and the authority or applicant 
producer group that lodged the application shall start appropriate consultations 
without undue delay. They  shall provide each other with the relevant information to 
assess whether the application for registration  complies with  this 
Regulation,  Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 or  (EU) 2019/787, as appropriate.  
6. Within 1  month from the end of the consultations referred to in paragraph (4), the 
applicant producer group established in the third country or the authorities of the 
Member State or of the third country from which the Union application for 
registration was lodged shall notify the Commission of the result of the consultations, 
including al l the information exchanged,  whether agreement was reached with one or 
all of the opponents, and of any consequent changes to the application for 
registration. The authority or person that lodged an opposition to the Commission 
may also notify the Commissi on of its position at the end of the consultations.  
7. Where, following the end of the consultations referred to in paragraph (4), the 
data published in accordance with Article 17 (4) have been modified, the Commission 
shall repeat its scrutiny of the application for registration as modified. Where the 
application for registration has been modified in a substantial m anner, and the 
Commission considers that the modified application meets the conditions for EN 38  EN registration, it shall publish the application once more in accordance with that 
paragraph.   
8. The documents referred to in this Article shall be drafted in one of the official 
languages of the Union.  
9. After completion of the opposition procedure, the Commission shall finalise its 
assessment of the Union application for registration, taking into account any request 
for transitional periods, the outcome of the oppos ition procedure, any notice of 
comments received  and any other matters arising subsequently to  its scrutiny that 
may imply a change of the single document.  
10. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by detailed procedures and  deadlines for 
the opposition procedure, for the official submission of comments by national 
authorities and persons with a legitimate interest, w hich will not trigger the 
opposition procedure and by rules on entrusting its tasks set out in this Article 
to EUIPO.  
11. The Commission may adopt implementing acts defining the format and online 
presentation of oppositions and official comments, if applic able, and providing  for 
the exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data. Those implementing acts 
shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 
53(2). 
Article 20  
Grounds for opposition  
1. An opposition lodged in accordance with Article 19 shall be admissible only if the 
opponent demonstrates that:  
(a) the proposed geographical indication does not comply with the definition of the 
geographical indication or with the requirements referred to in this 
Regulation,   Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 or  Regulation (EU) 2019/787 as 
the case may be;  
(b) registration of the proposed geographic al indication would be prevented by one 
or more of the circumstances referred to in Article 29, Article 30, Article 
31 or Article 49 (1) ; 
(c) the registration of the proposed geographical indication would jeopardise the 
existence of an entirel y or partly identical name or of a trade mark or the 
existence of products which have been legally on the market for at least 5  years 
preceding the date of the publication provided for in  Article 17 (4) . 
2. The admissibility of an opposition shall be assessed by the Commission in relation to 
the territory of the Union.  
Article 21  
Transitional period for the use of geographical indications  
1. The Commission may  adopt implementing acts gr anting a transitional period of up to 
5 years to enable, for products originating in a Member State or a third country the 
designation of which consists of or contains a name that contravenes Article 27 (1), 
the continued use of that  designation, under which they were marketed, provided  that EN 39  EN an admissible opposition,   under Article 9 (4) or Article 19, to the application 
for registration of the geographical indication whose protection is contravened 
shows  that: 
(a) the registration of the concerned geographical indication would jeopardise the 
existence of an e ntirely or partly identical name in the product designation; or  
(b) such products have been legally marketed with that name in the product 
designation in the territory concerned for at least 5  years preceding the 
publication provided for in  Article 17 (4), point (a).  
2. The implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1 shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure referred to in  Article 53 (2) except those where an 
admissible opposition is lodged under  Article 9 (4), which shall be adopted without 
applying that  examination procedure.   
3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts extending the transitional period 
granted under  paragraph (1) up to 15 years, or allowing continued use for up to 15 
years, provided it is  additionally shown that:  
(a) the name in the designation referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article has been 
in legal use consistently and fairly for at least 25 years before the ap plication 
for registration of the concerned geographical indication was submitted to the 
Commission;  
(b) the purpose of using the name in the designation  referred to in paragraph 
(1) has not, at any time, been to profit from the reputation of the name of the 
product that has been registered as geographical indication; and  
(c) the consumer has not been or could not have been misled as to the true origin 
of the product.  
4. The implementing acts referred to in paragraph 3 shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure referred to in Article 53 (2) except those where an 
admissible opposition is l odged under Article 9 (4), which shall be adopted without 
applying that examination procedure.  
5. When using a designation referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3, the indication of the 
countr y of origin shall clearly and visibly appear on the labelling.  
6. To overcome temporary difficulties with the long -term objective of ensuring that all 
producers of a product designated under a geographical indication in the area 
concerned comply with the r elated product specification, a Member State may grant 
a transitional period for compliance, of up to 10 years, with effect from the date on 
which the application is lodged with the Commission, provided that the operators 
concerned have legally marketed th e products in question, using the names 
concerned continuously for at least 5  years preceding the lodging of the application 
to the authorities of that  Member State and have referred to that  fact in the national 
opposition procedure referred to in Article 9(4). 
7. paragraph (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis  to a geographical indication referring to a 
geographical area  situated in a third  country, with the exception of the opposition 
procedure.  
Article 22  
Commission decision on the application for registration  EN 40  EN 1. Where, on the basis of the information available to the Commission from the scrutiny 
carried out pursuant to  Article 17, the Commission considers that any of the 
requirements referred therein  is not fulfilled,  it shall adopt implementing 
acts rejecting the application for registration. Those implementi ng acts shall be 
adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 53 (2). 
2. Where it receives no admissible opposition, the Commission shall adopt 
implementi ng acts, without applying the procedure referred to in Article 53 (2), 
registering the geographical indication.  The Commission may take in to account the 
notices of comments received in  accordance with Article 19 (1).    
3. Where it receives an admissible opposition, the Commission shall, following the 
consultations referred to in Article 19 (4) and taking into account the results thereof,   
(a) adopt implementing act registering the geographical indication without 
applying the procedure referred to in Article 53 (2), if an agreement has been 
reached, after checking that the agreement complies with  Union law, and, if 
necessary, amend the information published pursuant to  Article 17 (4) provided 
that such amendments are not substantial; or  
(b) adopt implementing acts deciding on the application for registration, if an 
agreement has not been reached.  Those implementing acts shall be adopted in 
accordance with the e xamination procedure referred to in Article 53 (2). 
4. The acts registering a geographical indication  shall provide for any 
condition  applicable to the registration and for the republication for information 
of the single document published for opposition in the Official Journal of the 
European Union  in case of  any necessary amendments that are not substantial.  
5. Regulations of registration  and decisions on rejection shall be published in the 
Official Journal of the European Union, L series.  
Article 23  
Union register of geographical indications  
1. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, without applying the procedure 
referred to in  Article 53 (2), containing provisions on establishing and maintaining a 
publicly accessible elect ronic register of geographical indications protected  under 
this Regulation  (the ‘Union register of geographical indications’). The register  shall 
have three parts corresponding to geographical indications of wine, of spirit drinks 
and of agricultural produ cts respectively.  
2. Each geographical indication of wine and of agricultural products shall be identified 
in the Union register of geographical indications as a ‘protected designation of 
origin’ or a ‘protected geographical indication’ as the case may be,  and each 
geographical indication of spirit drinks shall be identified as a ‘geographical 
indication’.  
3. Geographical indications concerning  products from third countries that are protected 
in the Union under an international agreement to which the Union is a contracting 
party may be entered in the Union register of geographical indications. The 
Commission shall  register such  geographical indications by means of implementing 
acts adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 
53(2). As regards wine and agricultural products, unless specifically identified in 
those  agreements as protected designations of origin, the  names of such products EN 41  EN shall be entered in  the Union register of geographical indications as protected 
geographical indications.  
4. Each geographical indication shall be entered in the Union register of geographical 
indications in its original script. Where the original script is not in Latin char acters, 
the geographical indication shall be transcribed in Latin characters and both versions 
of the geographical indication shall be entered in the Union register of geographical 
indications and shall have equal status.  
5. The Commission shall make publi c and regularly update the list of the international 
agreements referred to in paragraph (3) as well as the list of geographical indications 
protected under those agreements.  
6. The Co mmission shall retain documentation related to the registration of a 
geographical indication in digital or paper form for the period of validity of the 
geographical indication, and in case of cancellation for 10 years thereafter.  
7. The Commission shall be  empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by rules on entrusting EUIPO to operate 
the Union register of geographical indications.  
8. The Commi ssion may adopt implementing acts defining the content and presentation 
of the Union register of geographical indications. Those implementing acts shall be 
adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 53 (2). 
Article 24  
Extracts from the Union register of geographical indications  
1. Any person shall be able to download an official extract from the Union register of 
geographical indications  that provides pro of of registration of the geographical 
indication, and the relevant data including the date of application for the registration 
of the geographical indication or other priority date. This official extract may be used 
as an authentic certificate  in legal pr oceedings, in a court of law, court of arbitration 
or similar body.  
2. Where a  producer group has been recognised by the national authorities in 
accordance with  Article 33, that group shall be id entified as the  rights' holder of the 
geographical indication in the Union register of geographical indications  and in the 
official extract referred to in paragraph (1). 
3. The Commissio n may adopt implementing acts defining the format and online 
presentation of extracts from the Union register of geographical indications, 
and providing for the exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data. Those 
implementing acts shall be adopted  in accordance with the examination procedure 
referred to in Article 53 (2). 
Article 25  
Amendments to a product specification  
1. A producer group having a legitimate interest may apply for the approval of an 
amendment to the  product specification of a registered geographical indication.  
2. Amendments to a product specification shall be classified into two categories:  
(a) Union amendments, requiring an opposition procedure at Union level;  and EN 42  EN (b) standard amendments to be dealt with at Member State or third country level.  
3. An amendment shall be a Union amendment if it entails a change of the single 
document and:  
(a) includes a change in the name, or in the use of the name, or, for wine and spirit 
drinks, in the category of product or products designated by  the geographical 
indication, or, for spirit drinks, in the legal name; or  
(b) risks voiding the link to the geographical area referred to in the single 
document;  or 
(c) entails fu rther restrictions on the marketing of the product.  
4. Any other amendment to a product specification of a registered geographical 
indication, that is not a Union amendment in accordance with paragraph 3, shall be 
considered as a standard amendment.  
5. A standard amendment shall be considered as a temporary amendment when it 
concerns  a temporary change in the product specification resulting from the 
imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures by the public 
authorities or a temporary amendme nt necessary because of a natural disaster or 
adverse weather conditions formally recognised by the competent authorities.  
6. Union amendments shall be approved by the Commission. The approval procedure 
shall follow, mutatis mutandis , the procedure laid do wn from   Article 8 to Article 22. 
7. Applications for Union amendments  submitted by a third  country or by producers in 
a third country shall contain proof that the requested amendment complies with the 
laws on the protection of geographical indications in force in that third  country.   
8. If an application for a Union amendment to the product specification of a registered 
geographical indi cation also includes  standard amendments or temporary 
amendments, the Commission shall scrutinise the  Union amendment  only.  Any 
standard amendments or temporary amendments shall be deemed as not having been 
submitted. The scrutiny of such applications shal l focus on the proposed Union 
amendments. Where appropriate, the Commission or the Member State concerned 
may invite the applicant to modify other elements of the product specifications.  
9. Standard amendments shall be approved by Member States or third  countries in 
whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located and 
communicated to the Commission. The Commission shall make those amendments 
public.   
10. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by provisions entrusting EUIPO with the 
publication of standard amendments referred to in paragraph (9). 
11. The Commission may  adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presentation of an application for a Union amendment and 
on procedures, the form and communication of standard amendments to the 
Comm ission. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the 
examination procedure referred to in Article 53 (2). 
Article 26  
Cancellation of the registration  EN 43  EN 1. The Commissio n may, on its own initiative or on a duly substantiated request by a 
Member State, a third  country or any natural or legal person having a legitimate 
interest, adopt implementing acts to cancel the registration of a geographical 
indication in the following  cases:  
(a) where compliance with the requirements for the product specification can no 
longer be ensured; or  
(b) where no product has been placed on the market under the geographical 
indication for at least seven consecutive years.  
2. The Commission may a lso adopt implementing acts cancelling the  registration at the 
request of the producers of the product marketed under the registered name.  
3. The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be adopted in 
accordance with the examination proced ure referred to in Article 53 (2). 
4. Article 9, Articles from Article 15 to Article 20 and Article 22 shall apply  mutatis 
mutandis  to the cancellation procedure.  
5. Before adopting the implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the 
Commission shall consult the authorities of the Member State, the authorities of the 
third  country or, where possible, the third  country producer which had originally 
applied for the registration of the geographi cal indication concerned, unless the 
cancellation is directly requested by those original applicants.  
6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing  this Regulation by rules entrusting EUIPO with  the tasks 
set out in paragraph (5). 
7. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures and the form of the cancellation of registrations, as well as on the 
presentation of the requests referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. Those implementing 
acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in 
Article 53 (2). 
Chapter 3  
Protection  of geographical indications  
Article 27  
Protection of geographical indications  
1. Geographical indications entered in the Union register of geographical indications 
shall be p rotected against:  
(a) any direct or indirect commercial use of the geographical indication  in respect 
of products not covered by the registration,  where those products are 
comparable to the products registered under that name or where  use of a  name 
exploit s, weakens, dilutes, or is detrimental to the reputation of, the protected 
name;  
(b) any misuse, imitation or evocation, even if the true origin of the products or 
services is indicated or if the protected name is translated or accompanied by 
an expression  such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’, 
‘flavour’, ‘like’ or similar.  EN 44  EN (c) any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or 
essential qualities of the product that is used on the inner or outer pack aging, 
advertising material, documents or information provided on websites  relating 
to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to 
convey a false impression as to its origin;  
(d) any other practice liable to mislead the c onsumer as to the true origin of the 
product.  
2. For the purposes of paragraph (1), point (b), the evocation of a geographical 
indication shall arise, in particular, where a  term, sign, or other labelling or 
packaging device presents a direct and clear link with the product covered by the 
registered geographical indication  in the mind of the reasonably circumspect 
consumer, thereby exploiting, weakening, diluting or being det rimental to the 
reputation of the registered name.  
3. paragraph (1) shall also apply  to a domain name containing or consisting of the 
registered geographical indication.  
4. The protect ion referred to in paragraph (1) also applies  to: 
(a) goods entering the customs territory of the Union without being released for 
free circulation within that  territory; and  
(b) goods  sold by means of distance selling, such as electronic commerce.   
5. The recognised group of producers or any operator that is entitled to use the 
protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication shall be entitled 
to prevent all third p arties from bringing goods, in the course of trade, into the Union 
without being released for free circulation there, where such goods, including 
packaging, come from third  countries and are in breach of  paragraph (1). 
6. Geographical indications protected under this Regulation shall not become generic in 
the Union.  
7. Where a geographical indication is a compound name which contains a term which is 
considered to be generic, the use of that term shall not constitute a conduct referred 
to inparagraph (1), point (a) and (b). 
Article 28  
Ingredients in processed products  
1. Article 27 is without prejudice to the use of a geographical indication by operators in 
conformity with Article 36 to indicate that a processed product contains, as an 
ingredient, a product designated by that  geographical indication provided that such 
use is made in accordance with honest commercial practices and does not weaken, 
dilute or is not  detrimental to the reputation of the geographical indication.  
2. The geographical indication designating a product ingredient shall not be used in the 
food name  of the related processed product, except in cases of an agreement with a 
producer group representing  two thirds of the producers.   
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with  
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by additional rules on  the use of 
geographical indications to identify ingredients in processed products referred to in 
paragraph (1) of this Article.  EN 45  EN Article 29  
Generic terms  
1. Generic terms shall not be registered as geographical indications.  
2. To establish whether or not a term has become generic, account shall be taken of all 
relevant factors, in particular:  
(a) the existing situation in the areas of consumption;  
(b) the relevant national or Union legal acts.  
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by  additional rules for determining the 
generic status of terms referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.  
Article 30  
Homo nymous geographical indications  
1. A geographical indication that has been applied for after a wholly or partly 
homonymous geographical indication had  been applied for or protected in the Union, 
shall not be registered  unless there is sufficient distinctio n in practice between the 
conditions of local and traditional usage and the presentation of the two 
homonymous indications, taking into account the need to ensure equitable treatment 
of the producers concerned and that consumers are not misled as to the tr ue identity 
or geographical origin of the products.  
2. A wholly or partly homonymous name which misleads the consumer into believing 
that products come from another territory shall not be registered even if the name  for 
the actual territory, region or plac e of origin of the products in question is accurate.  
3. For the purposes of this Article, a homonymous geographical indication applied for 
or protected in the Union refers to:  
(a) geographical indications that are entered in the Union register of geographi cal 
indications;  
(b) geographical indications that have been applied for provided that they are 
subsequently entered in the Union register of geographical indications;  
(c) appellations of origin and geographical indications protected in the Union 
pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council45; and 
(d) geographical indications, names of origin and equivalent terms protected 
pursuant to an international agreement between the Union and one or more 
third  countries.  
4. The Commission shall cancel the geographical indications registered in breach of 
paragraph (1) and (2). 
5. The implementing acts  referred to in  paragraph (4) shall be adopted without applying 
the procedure referred to in  Article 53 (2). 
                                                 
45 Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the 
actio n of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations 
of Origin and Geographical Indications (OJ L 271, 24.10.2019, p. 1).  EN 46  EN Article 31  
Trade marks  
A name shall not be registered  as a geographical indication where, in the light of a trade 
mark's reputation and renown, registration of the name proposed as a geographical indication 
could mislead the consumer as to the true identity of the product.  
Article 32  
Producer groups  
1. A producer group shall be set up on the initiative of interested stakeholders, 
including farmers, farm suppliers, intermediate processors and final processors, as 
specified by t he national authorities and according to the nature of the product 
concerned. Member States shall verify that the producer group operates in a 
transparent and democratic manner and  that all producers of the product designated 
by the geographical indication  enjoy right of membership in the group. Member 
States may provide that public officials, and other stakeholders such as consumer 
groups, retailers and suppliers, also participate in the works of the producer group.  
2. A producer group may exercise in part icular the following powers and 
responsibilities:  
(a) develop the product  specification and manage internal controls that ensure 
compliance of production steps of the product designated by the geographical 
indication with the said specification;  
(b) take l egal action to ensure protection of the geographical indication and of the 
intellectual property rights that are directly connected with it;   
(c) agree sustainability undertakings, whether or not included in the product 
specification or as a separate initi ative, including arrangements for verification 
of compliance with those undertakings and assuring adequate publicity for 
them notably in an information system provided by the Commission;   
(d) take action to improve the performance of the geographical indic ation, 
including:  
(i) development, organisation  and conduct of  collective marketing and 
advertising campaigns;  
(ii) dissemination of  information and promotion activities aiming at 
communicating the attributes of the product designated by a geographical 
indication to consumers;  
(iii) carrying out analyses into the economic performance, sustainability of 
production, nutritional profile, and organoleptic profile, of the product 
designated by the geographical indication;    
(iv) dissemination of  information on t he geographical indication and the 
relevant Union symbol;  and 
(v) providing  advice and training to current and future producers, including 
on gender mainstreaming and equality.  
(e) combat counterfeiting and suspected fraudulent uses on the internal market of a 
geographical indication  designating products that are not in compliance with 
the product specification, by monitoring the use of the geographical indication EN 47  EN across the internal market and on third countries  markets where the 
geographical indications a re protected, including on the internet, and, as 
necessary, inform  enforcement authorities using confidential systems available.  
Article 33  
Recognised producer groups  
1. Upon a request of producer groups fulfilling the conditions of paragraph 3, Member 
States shall designate, in accordance with their national law, one  producer group as 
recognised producer group for each geographical indication originating in their 
territory that is registered or is subject to an application for registration or for product 
names that are a potential subject for application for registration.  
2. A producer group may be designated as recognised producer group subject to a prior 
agreement concluded between at least two -thirds of the producers of the product 
bearing a geographical  indication, accounting for at least two -thirds of the production 
of that product in the geographical area referred to in the product specification. As an 
exception, an authority, as referred to in Article 8(2), and a single producer, as 
referred to in Art icle 8(3), shall be deemed to be a recognised producer group.  
3. In addition to the powers and responsibilities referred to in Article 32 (2), a 
recognised producer group may exercise t he following powers and responsibilities:  
(a) to liaise with intellectual property enforcement and anti -counterfeit bodies and 
participate in intellectual property enforcement networks as the geographical 
indication right holder;  
(b) to take enforcement ac tions, including filing applications for actions with 
custom authorities, to prevent or counter any measures which are, or risk being, 
detrimental to the image of their products;  
(c) to recommend to the national authorities binding rules to be adopted in 
accordance with Article 166a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the 
regulation of the supply of products designated by a geographical indication;  
(d) with a view to protecting the geographical indication in the internet domain 
name  systems outside the juri sdiction of the Union, to register an individual, 
collective or certification trade mark depending on the trade mark system 
concerned, containing, as one of its prominent elements, a geographical 
indication and restricted to product conforming to the corre sponding product 
specification.  
4. The powers and responsibilities referred to in paragraph 2  shall be subject to  a prior 
agreement concluded between at least two -thirds of the producers of the product 
designated by a geographical indication, accounting fo r at least two -thirds of the 
production of that product in the geographical area referred to in the product 
specification.  
5. Member States shall carry out checks in order to ensure that the conditions laid down 
in paragraph 2 are complied with. Where the competent national authorities find that 
such conditions have not been complied with, Member States shall annul  the decision 
on the recognition of the producer group.  EN 48  EN Article 34  
Protection of geographical indication rights in domain names  
1. Country -code top -level domain name registries established in the Union may, upon 
the request of a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest or rights, revoke 
or transfer a domain name registered under such country -code top -level domain to 
the re cognised producer group of the products with the geographical indication 
concerned, following an appropriate alternative dispute resolution procedure or 
judicial procedure, if such domain name has been registered by its holder without 
rights or legitimate interest in the geographical indication or if it has been registered 
or is being used in bad faith and its use contravenes Article 27. 
2. Country -code top -level domain name registries established  in the Union shall ensure 
that any alternative dispute resolution procedure established to solve disputes 
relating  to the registration of domain names referred to in  paragraph (1), shall 
recognise geographical indications as rights that may prevent a domain name from 
being registered or used in bad faith.  
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
withArticle84  supplementing this Regulation by provisions  entrusting EUIPO to 
establish and manage a domain name information and alert system that would 
provide the applicant, upon the submission of an application for a geographical 
indication, with information about the availability of the  geographical indicati on as a 
domain name  and, on optional basis, the registration of a domain name identical to 
their geographical indication. That delegated act shall also include the obligation  for 
registries of country -code top -level domain names, established in the Union, to 
provide EUIPO with the relevant information and data.   
Article 35  
Conflicting trade marks  
1. The registration of a trade mark the use of which would  contravene  Article 27 shall 
be rejected if the application for registration of the trade mark is submitted after the 
date of submission to the Commission of the application for the registration of the 
geographical indication.  
2. Trade marks registered in breach of paragraph (1) shall be invalidated by 
EUIPO  and, when applicable, the competent national authorities.  
3. A trade mark the use of which contravenes  Article 27, which has been applied for, 
registered, or established by use in good faith within the territory of the Union, if that 
possibility is provided for by the legislation concerned, before the date on which the 
application for registration  of the geographical  indication is  submitted to the 
Commission, may continue to be used and renewed notwithstanding the registration 
of a geographical indication, provided that no grounds for invalidity or revocation of 
the trade mark exist under Directive (EU) 2015/2436 or R egulation (EU) 2017/1001. 
In such cases, the use of the geographical indication, if then registered, and that of 
the relevant trade mark shall be permitted.  
4. For geographical indications registered in the Union without the submission of a 
Union applicati on for registration, the date of the first day of protection shall be 
deemed to be the date of submission to the Commission of the application for 
registration of the geographical indication for the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 3.     EN 49  EN 5. Without prejudice t o Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, guarantee or certification 
marks referred to in Article 28(4) of Directive (EU) 2015/2436 and collective marks 
referred to in Article 29(3) of that Directive may be used on labels, together with the 
geographical indication.  
Article 36  
Right of use  
A registered geographical indication may be used by any operator marketing a product 
conforming to the corresponding product  specification or  single document or an equivalent 
to the latter.  
Member States shall ensure that any operat or complying with the rules set out in this 
Title  is  covered by the verification of compliance  of the product specification established 
pursuant to  Article 39. Member States may charge a fee to cover their costs of managing the 
controls system.   
The circumstance by which a geographical indication consists of or contains the name of the 
estate  of a single applicant producer shall not prevent other producers and operators from 
using the registered  geographical indication provided that it is used to designate a product that 
is in conformity with the product specification.  
Article 37  
Union symbols, indications and abbreviations  
1. The following Union symbols designed to mark and publicise geographical  
indications shall be established:  
(a) a symbol identifying protected designations of origin of wine  and of 
agricultural products; and  
(b) a symbol identifying protected geographical indications of wine  and of 
agricultural products and geographical indicat ions of spirit drinks.  
2. In the case of products originating in the Union that are marketed under a 
geographical indication, the Union symbol associated with it shall appear on the 
labelling and advertising material. The geographical indication shall appe ar in the 
same field of vision as the Union symbol.  The labelling requirements laid down  in 
Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 for the presentation of mandatory 
particulars shall apply to the geographical indication.  
3. By way of derogation from  paragraph (2), in the case of wine  and spirit drinks 
originating in the Union that are marketed under a geographical indication, Union 
symbols may be omitted from the labelling and ad vertising material of the product 
concerned.  
4. The Union symbol for protected geographical indications established pursuant to 
paragraph (1) may be used in the description, presentation and labelling of spirit 
drinks the names of which are geographical indications.  
5. Where wine, agricultural products or spirit drinks are  designated by a geographical 
indication the indications ‘protected designation of origin’ or ‘protected g eographical 
indication’ shall appear on the labelling of wine,  the indications ‘protected 
designation of origin’ or ‘protected geographical indication’ may appear on the EN 50  EN labelling of agricultural products and  the indication  ‘geographical indication’ may 
appear on the labelling of spirit drinks, respectively.   
The abbreviations ‘PDO’ or ‘PGI’, corresponding to the indications ‘protected 
designation of origin’ or ‘protected geographical indication’, may appear on the 
labelling of wine  and of agricultural prod ucts designated by a geographical 
indication.  
6. Indications, abbreviations and Union symbols may be used in the labelling and 
advertising materials of processed products when  the geographical indication refers 
to an ingredient thereof. In that case, the i ndication, abbreviation or Union symbol 
shall be placed next to the name of the ingredient that is clearly identified as an 
ingredient. The Union symbol shall not be placed in association with the name of the 
food within the meaning of Article 17 of  Regula tion (EU) No 1169/2011  or in a 
manner that suggests to the consumer that the processed product rather than the 
ingredient is the object of  registration.  
7. After  the submission of a Union application for the registration  of a geographical 
indication, produ cers may indicate on the labelling and in the presentation of the 
product that an application for registration has been filed  in compliance with Union 
law. 
8. Union symbols indicating the protected designation of origin or protected 
geographical indication  and the Union indications ‘protected designation of origin’, 
‘protected geographical indication’ and ‘geographical indication’ and the 
abbreviations ‘PDO’ or ‘PGI’ as relevant, may appear on the labelling only after the 
publication of the act of registrat ion of that geographical indication.  
9. Where an application is rejected, any products labelled in accordance with paragraph 
(6) may be marketed until the stocks are exhausted.  
10. The following may also appear on the labelling:  
(a) depictions of the geographical area of origin  referred to in the product 
specification;  and 
(b) text, graphics or symbols referring to the Member State and the region in which 
that geographical area of origi n is located.   
11. Union symbols associated with geographical indications entered in the Union register 
of geographical indications designating products originating in third countries, may 
appear on the product labelling and advertising material, in which case the symbols 
shall be used in conformity with paragraph (2) and (4). 
12. The Commission may adopt implementing acts establishing the Union symbols for 
geographical indications, defining the technical characteristics of the Union symbols 
for geographical indications as well as the rules on their use and the use of the 
indications and abbreviations  on products marketed under a registered geographical 
indication, including rules concerning the appropriate linguistic versions to be used. 
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination 
procedure referred to in Article 53 (2). EN 51  EN Chapter 4  
Controls  and enforcement  
Article 38  
Scope  
1. This Chapter covers controls and enforcement of  geographical indications of 
spirit  drinks and of agricultural products.  
2. For t he purposes of  this Chapter, controls include:  
(a) verification that a product designated by a geographical indication  has been 
produced in compliance  with the corresponding product specification; and  
(b) monitoring of the use of geographical indications  in the marketplace.  
3. When performing the controls and enforcement activities provided for in this Title, 
the responsible competent authorities and product certification  bodies  shall comply 
with the requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/625. Howev er, Title VI, 
Chapter 1, of  Regulation (EU)  2017/625  shall not apply to controls  of geographical 
indications.  
Article 39  
Verification of compliance with the product specification  
1. Member States shall draw up and keep up to date a  list of producers of pro ducts 
designated by a geographical indication  entered in the Union  register of geographical 
indications originating in their territory.  
2. Producers  are responsible for internal controls that ensure compliance with the 
product specification of products des ignated by geographical indications before the 
product is placed on the market.  
3. In addition to internal controls referred to in paragraph 2, prior to placing on the 
market a product designated by a geographical indication and originating in the 
Union, t hird party verification of compliance with the product specification, shall be 
carried out by:  
(a) one or more competent authorities within the meaning of Article 3, point (3), of 
Regulation (EU) 2017/625; or  
(b) one or more product certification  bodies to  which responsibilities have been 
delegated as referred to in Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Title II, Chapter III.   
4. In respect of geographical indications that designate products originating in a 
third  country, verification of compliance with the product sp ecification, before 
placing the product on  the market, shall be carried out by:  
(a) a public competent authority designated by the third  country; or  
(b) one or more product certification bodies.  
5. Where, in accordance with the product specification, a pro duction step is carried out 
by one or more producers in a country other than the country of the origin of the 
geographical indication, provisions for verification of compliance of those producers 
shall be set out in the product specification. If the releva nt production step takes EN 52  EN place in the Union,  the producers shall be notified to the competent authorities of the 
Member State where the production step takes place and be subject to verification as 
a producer of the product designated by the  geographical i ndication.  
6. Where a Member State applies Article 8 (2), the verification of compliance with the 
product specification shall be ensured by an authority other than that deemed to be a 
producer group under that paragraph.  
7. The costs of verification of compliance with the product specification may  be borne 
by the operators which are subject to those controls. The Member States may also 
contribute to those costs.  
Article 40  
Public information on competent authorities and product certification bodies  
1. Member States shall make public the names and addresses of the competent 
authorities and product certification  bodies referred to in  Article 39 (3) and keep that 
information up -to-date.  
2. The Commission shall make public the names and addresses of the competent 
authorities and product certification bodies referred to in  Article 39 (4) and update 
that information periodically.  
3. The Commission may establish a digital portal  where the names and addresses of the 
competent authorities and product certification bodies referred to in paragraphs 1 and 
2 are made public.  
Article 41  
Accreditation of product certification bodies  
1. The product certification bodies referred to in Article 39(3), point (b) and Article 
39(4), po int (b) shall comply with and be accredited in accordance with:  
(a) European standard ISO/IEC 17065:2012 ‘Conformity assessment — 
Requirements for bodies certifying products , processes and services, 
including  European standard ISO/IEC 17020:2012 ‘Conformity assessment — 
Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing 
inspection’;  or  
(b) other suitable, internationally recognised standards, including any revisions or 
amended versions of the European standards referred to in point (a).  
2. Accreditation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be performed by an accreditation body 
recognised in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, that is a member of 
Europea n Accreditation, or by an accreditation body outside the Union that is a 
member of International Accreditation Forum.  
Article 42  
Controls and enforcement of geographical indications in the marketplace  
1. Member States shall designate one or more enforcemen t authorities, which may be 
the same as the competent authorities referred to in Article 39 (3), responsible 
for controls in the marketplace and enforcement of geographical indications after the 
product designated by a geographical indication has completed all production steps, EN 53  EN whether it is in storage, transit, distribution, or offered for sale at wholesale or retail 
level, including in electronic commerce.  
2. The enforcement authority shall carry out controls of products designated by 
geographical indications to ensure conformity with the product specification or the 
single document or an equivalent to the latter.  
3. Member States shall take appropriate administrative and judicial steps  to prevent or 
stop the use of names of products or services that are produced, operated or marketed 
in their territory and that contravenes  the protection of geographical 
indications  provided for in Article 27 and Article 28. 
4. The authority designated in accordance with paragraph 1 shall coordinate 
enforcement of geographical indications among relevant departments, agencies and 
bodies , including police, anti -counterfeiting agencies, customs, intellectual property 
offices, food law authorities and retail inspectors.  
Article 43  
Obligations applicable to providers of intermediary services  
1. Sale of goods to which persons established in t he Union have access, that 
contravenes  Article 27, shall be considered illegal content within the meaning of 
Article 2, point  (g) of Regulation (EU) 2022/xxx of the European Parliament and of 
the Council46. 
2. Competent authorities of the Member States may issue an order to act in accordance 
with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2022/xxx  against illegal content as referred to in 
paragraph 1 of this Article.   
3. Pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2022/xxx, any individual or entity 
may notify providers of hosting services of the presence of  a specific content that is 
in breach Article 27 of this Re gulation.  
4. This regulation is without prejudice to Regulation  (EU) 2022/xxx.  
Article 44  
Mutual assistance and exchange of information  
1. Member States shall assist each other for the purpose  of carrying out the controls and 
enforcement provided for in th is Chapter in accordance with Regulation (EU) 
2017/625.  
2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts detailing the nature and the type of 
the information to be exchanged and the methods for exchanging information for the 
purpose of controls and enforcemen t under this Chapter.  Those implementing acts 
shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 
53(2). 
3. Administrative assistance may include, wher e appropriate, and, by agreement 
between the competent authorities concerned, participation by the competent 
authorities of a Member State in on -the-spot checks that the competent authorities of 
another Member State perform.  
                                                 
46 Regulation (EU) […] of the European Parliament and of the Council of […] on a Single Ma rket For 
Digital Services (DSA) and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (OJ L …, XXX, dd/mm/yyyy, p. X).  EN 54  EN 4. In case of a possible violation of protection conferred to  a geographical indication, 
Member States shall take measures to facilitate the transmission, from  law 
enforcement authorities, public prosecutors and judicial authorities, to the competent 
authorities referred in Articl e 39(3) of information on such possible violation.  
5. For the specific purpose of facilitating the exchange of information on non -
compliance or fraud concerning registered geographical  indications, Member States 
shall use the information management system established under Regulation (EU) 
2017/625  or any other system that might be established in the future for that purpose.  
Article 45  
Certificates of authorisation to produce  
1. A produc er whose product, following the verification of compliance referred to 
in Article 39 is found to comply with the product specification of a geographical 
indication protected in accordance with th is Regulation shall be entitled to an official 
certificate, or other proof of certification, of eligibility to produce the product 
designated by the geographical indication concerned in respect of the production 
steps performed by the said producer.  
2. The proof of certification referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made available on 
request to enforcement authorities, customs or other authorities in the Union engaged 
in verifying the use of geographical indications on goods declared for free circulation 
or placed on the internal  market. The producer may make the proof of certification 
available to the public or to any person who requests such proof in the course of 
business.  
Chapter 5  
Technical assistance  
Article 46  
 Scrutiny of third country geographical in dications  
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with Article 
84 supplementing this Regulation by rules on entrusting EUIPO with the scrutiny of third 
country geo graphical indications, other than geographical indications under  the Geneva Act of 
the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, proposed for 
protection pursuant to international negotiations or international agreements.  
Article 47  
 Monitoring and reporting  
1. Where the Commission exercises any of the empowerments provided for in this 
Regulation to entrust tasks to  EUIPO, it shall also be empowered to adopt delegated 
acts in accordance with Article 84 to supplement this Regulation by criteria for 
monitoring performance in the execution of such tasks. Such criteria may  include:  
(a) the extent of integration of agricultural factors in the scrut iny process;  
(b) quality of assessments;  
(c) coherence of assessments of geographical indications from different sources;  EN 55  EN (d) efficiency of tasks;  and 
(e) user satisfaction.   
2. No later than 5  years after the first delegation of any  tasks to EUIPO, the 
Commission shall prepare and submit a report to the European Parliament and to the 
Council on the results and experience of the  exercise of these tasks by EUIPO.  
 
Chapter 6  
Geographical indications of agricultural products  
Article 48  
Designations of origin a nd geographical indications  
1. A ‘designation of origin’ of an agricultural product is a name  which identifies a 
product:  
(a) originating in a specific place, region or, in exceptional cases, a country;  
(b) whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a 
particular geographical environment with its inherent natural and human 
factors; and  
(c) the production steps of which all take place in the defined geographical area.  
2.  A ‘geographical indication’ of an agricultural product is a name which identifies a 
product:  
(a) originating in a specific place, region or country;  
(b) whose given quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable 
to its geographical origin; and  
(c) at least one of the production steps of whi ch takes place in the defined 
geographical area.  
3. The following agricultural products are excluded from being the subject of a 
protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication:  
(a) products that by their nature cannot be traded with in the internal market and 
can only be consumed in or near their place of manufacture, such as 
restaurants;  
(b) products that, without prejudice to  the rules referred to in  Article 5 (2), are 
contra ry to public policy or to accepted principles of morality and may not be 
placed on the internal market.  
4. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, certain names shall be registered  as designations of 
origin even though the raw materials for the products concerned com e from a 
geographical area larger than, or different from, the defined geographical area, 
provided that:  
(a) the production area of the raw materials is defined;  
(b) special conditions for the production of the raw materials exist;  
(c) there are control ar rangements to ensure that the conditions referred to in point 
(b) are adhered to; and  EN 56  EN (d) the designations of origin in question were recognised as designations of origin 
in the country of origin before 1 May 2004.  
Only live animals, meat and milk may be c onsidered as raw materials for the 
purposes of this paragraph.  
5. For the purposes of paragraph (2), point (b), ‘other characteristic’ may  include 
traditional production practices, traditional product attributes and farming practices 
that protect environmental value including biodiversity, habitats, nationally 
recognised environmental zones and landscape.  
6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in acco rdance with 
Article 84 concerning restrictions and derogations with regard to the sourcing of feed 
in the case of a designation of origin.  
7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance 
with Article 84 concerning restrictions and derogations with regard to the 
slaughtering of live animals or with regard to the sourcing of raw materials. These 
restrictions and derogations shall, based on objective criteria, take into account 
quality or usage and recognised know -how or natural factors.  
Article 49  
Plant varieties and animal breeds  
1. A name may not be registered as a geographical indication where it conflicts with  a 
denomination  of a plant variety or animal breed and is likely to mislead the consumer 
as to the true identity or origin of the product designated by the geographical 
indication or cause confusion between products designated by the geographical 
indicatio n and the variety or breed in question.  
2. The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) shall be assessed in relation to the actual 
use of the names in conflict, including the use of the denomination of the plant 
variety or animal breed outside its area of origin and the use of the denomination of a 
plant variety protected by Community plant variety right s. 
3. This Regulation shall not prevent the placing on the market of a product that do es not 
conform with the product specification of a registered geographical indication, the 
labelling of which includes the  name or part of the name of that geographical 
indication, that contains or comprises the denomination of a plant variety or animal 
breed, provided that the following conditions are met:  
(a) the product in question comprises or is derived from the variety or breed 
indicated;  
(b) consumers are not misled;  
(c) the usage of the denomination of the variety or breed name constitutes fair 
comp etition;  
(d) the usage does not exploit the reputation of the registered geographical 
indication; and  
(e) the production and marketing of the product in question had spread beyond its 
area of origin prior to the date of application for registration of the 
geographical indication.  EN 57  EN 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with 
Article 84 concerning rules for determining the use of denominations of plant 
varieties and animal breeds.  
Article 50  
Specific rules on sourcing of feed and of raw materials  
1. For the purposes of Article 48, feed shall be sourced entirely from within the defined 
geographical area in respect of products of animal origin the name of which is 
registered as a designation of origin.  
2. Insofar as sourcing entirely from within the defined geographical area is not 
technically practicable, feed sourced from outside that area can be added, provided 
that the product quality or characteristic essentially due to the geographical 
environment are not affected. Feed sourced from outside the defined geographical 
area shall not  exceed 50 % of dry matter on an annual basis.  
3. Any restrictions to the  origin of raw materials provided in the product specification 
of a product the name of which is registered as a geographical indication shall be 
justified with respect to the link referred to in Article 51(1), point (f) . 
Article 51  
Product specification  
1. Products the names of which are registered as a designation of origin or a 
geographical indication shall comply with a product specification which shall include 
at least:  
(a) the name to be protected as a designation of origin or geographical indication, 
which may be either a geographical name of the place of production of a 
specific product, or a name used in trade or in common language to describe 
the specific product in  the defined geographical area;  
(b) a description of the product, including where relevant, the raw materials, plant 
varieties and animal breeds concerned, including the commercial designation 
of the species and its scientific name, as well as the principa l physical, 
chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics of the product;  
(c) the definition of the delimited geographical area creating  the link referred to in 
point (f)(i) or (ii), and, where appropriate, details indicating compliance with 
the requirements of  Article 48 (4) ; 
(d) evidence that the product originates in the defined geographical area specified 
in accordance with Article 48(1), point (c), or Article 48(2), point (c); 
(e) a description of the method of obtaining the product and, where appropriate, 
the traditional methods and specific practices used; as well as information 
concerning packaging, if the applicant group so determines and gives sufficient 
product -specific justification as to why the packaging must take place in the 
defined geographical a rea to safeguard quality, to ensure the origin or to ensure 
control, taking into account Union law, in particular that on the free movement 
of goods and the free provision of services;  
(f) details establishing the following:  EN 58  EN (i) as regards a designation of  origin, the link between the quality or 
characteristics of the product and the geographical environment referred 
to in Article 48(1), point (b). The details concerning huma n factors of 
that geographical environment may, where relevant, be limited to a 
description of the soil and landscape management, cultivation practices 
or any other relevant human contribution to the maintenance of the 
natural factors of the geographical e nvironment referred to in  that 
provision;  
(ii) as regards a geographical indication, the link between a given quality, the 
reputation or other characteristic of the product and the geographical 
origin referred to in Article 48(2), point (b);   
(g) any specific labelling rule for the product in question;  
(h) other applicable requirements where provided for by Member States or by 
a producer group, if applicable, having regard t o the fact that such requirements 
must be objective, non -discriminatory and compatible with national and Union 
law. 
2. The product specification may also include sustainability undertakings.  
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 concerning  rules which limit the information contained in the product 
specification referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, where such a limitation is 
necessary to a void excessively voluminous applications for registration.  
4. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the form of the 
product specification. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure refer red to in Article 53 (2).  
Article 52  
Single document  
1. The single document shall comprise:  
(a) the main points of the product specification, namely: the name, a description of 
the product, including, where appropriate, specific rules concerning packaging 
and labelling  and a concise definition of the geographical area;  
(b) a description of the link between the product and the geographical environment 
or geographical origin referred t o in Article 51(1), point (f), including, where 
appropriate, the specific elements of the product description or production 
method justifying that  link. 
2. The Commission ma y adopt implementing acts defining the format and the online 
presentation of the single document provided for in paragraph 1  and providing  for the 
exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data. Those implementing acts 
shall be adopted in accordance  with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 
53(2). EN 59  EN Chapter 7  
Procedural  provisions  
Article 53  
Committee procedure  
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee, called the Geographical 
Indications Committee. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of 
Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.   
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 
182/2011 shall apply.  
Title III  
Quality schemes  
Chapter 1  
Traditional specialities guaranteed  
Article 54  
Objective and scope  
1. A scheme for traditional specialities guaranteed is established to safeguard traditional 
methods of production and recipes by helping producers of traditional product in 
marketin g and communicating the value -adding attributes of their traditional recipes 
and products to consumers.  
2. This Chapter applies to agricultural products.  
For the purposes of this Chapter, agricultural products means  agricultural products 
intended for human  consumption listed in Annex I to the Treaty on the Functioning 
of the European Union and other agricultural products and foodstuffs listed in Annex 
II to this Regulation.  
This Chapter shall not apply to spirit drinks, aromatised wines or grapevine product s 
as defined in Part II of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, with the 
exception of wine -vinegars.  
3. The registration  and the protection of traditional specialities guaranteed are without 
prejudice to the obligation  of producers to comply with oth er Union rules, in 
particular relating to the placing of products on the market, to the single common 
organisation of the markets, and to food labelling.  
Article 55  
Eligibility criteria  
1. A name shall be eligible for registration as a traditional speciali ty guaranteed where 
it describes a specific product  that: 
(a) results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to 
traditional practice for that product or foodstuff; or  EN 60  EN (b) is produced from raw materials or ingredients traditional ly used.  
2. For a name to be registered as a traditional speciality guaranteed, it shall:  
(a) have been traditionally used to refer to the product; or  
(b) identify the traditional character or of the product.  
3.  Where in the opposition procedure under  Article 62 it is demonstrated that the name 
is also used in another Member State or in a third country, in order to distinguish 
comparable products or products that share an identical or similar nam e, the decision 
on registration adopted in accordance with Article 65 (3) may provide that the name 
of the traditional speciality guaranteed is to be accompanied by the claim ‘made 
following the tradition of’ immediately followed by the name of a country or a 
region thereof.  
4. A name may not be registered if it refers only to claims of a general nature used for a 
set of products, or to claims provided for by particular Union legislation . 
5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
with Article 84 supplementing this Regulation with further details of the eligibility 
criteria laid down in this Artic le. 
Article 56  
Product specification  
1. A traditional speciality guaranteed shall comply with a product specification which 
shall comprise:  
(a) the product name proposed for registration, in the appropriate language 
versions;  
(b) a description of the product including its main physical, chemical, 
microbiological or organoleptic characteristics;  
(c) a description of the production method that the producers must follow, 
including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials 
or ingredients used, if relevant including the commercial designation of the 
species involved and its scientific name,  and the method by which the product 
is prepared; and  
(d) the key elements establishing the product’s traditional character.  
2. The Commissio n shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 laying down rules which limit the information contained in the 
specification referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article,  where such a limitation is 
necessary to avoid excessively voluminous applications for registration.  
3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the form of the 
product specification. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accor dance with 
the examination procedure referred to in Article 80 (2). 
Article 57  
National stage of the procedure of registration   
1. Applications for the registration of a traditional spe ciality guaranteed may only be 
submitted by groups of producers of   products with the name to be protected. Several EN 61  EN groups from different Member States or third  countries may lodge a joint application 
for registration.   
2. An application for registration o f a name as a traditional speciality guaranteed shall 
comprise:  
(a) the name and address of the applicant group of producers;  
(b) the product specification as provided for in Article 56. 
3. Where  the application is prepared by a group of producers established in a Member 
State, the application shall be addressed to the authorities of that Member State. The 
Member State shall scrutinise the application in order to check that it is justified and 
meets the conditions of the eligibility criteria referred to in Article 55. As part of the 
scrutiny, the Member State shall manage a national opposition procedure. If the 
Member State considers that  the requirements of this Chapter are met, it may take a 
favourable decision and lodge a Union application for registration with the 
Commission.  
4. The Member State shall ensure that its decision, be it favourable or not, is made 
public and that any natura l or legal person having a legitimate interest has an 
opportunity to challenge that decision. The Member State shall also ensure that the 
product specification on which its favourable decision is based is published, and shall 
provide electronic access to t he product specification.  
5. Where the application, including a joint application, is prepared by a group or groups 
of producers  established in a third  country, the application shall be lodged either 
directly or via the authorities of the third  country con cerned.  
Article 58  
Union application for registration   
1. A Union application for the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed shall 
comprise:  
(a) the elements referred to in  Article 57 (2); and  
(b) for Member States only, a declaration by the Member State that it considers that 
the application lodged by the applicant  group meets the conditions of registration.  
2. Where a joint application, referred to in  Article 57 (1) is submitted, the application 
shall be submitted to the Commission by one of the Member States concerned. It 
shall include, as relevant, the elements referred to in  Article 57 (2) as well as the 
declaration referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), of this Article from all Member 
States concerned. The related national procedures, including the opposition stage, 
shall be carr ied out in all the Member States concerned.   
3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance 
withArticle 84 supplementing this Regulation by additional  rules for joint 
applications for the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed concerning 
more than one national territory  and the application process.   
4. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presenta tion of applications for registration, including for 
applications for the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed concerning 
more than one national territory. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in 
accordance with the examination procedure  referred to in   Article 80 (2). EN 62  EN Article 59  
Submission of the Union application for registration  
1. A Union application for the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed shall  be 
submitted to the Commission electronically, through a digital system. The digital 
system shall have capacity to allow submission  of applications to national authorities 
of a Member State, and shall have capacity to be used by a Member State in its 
national procedure.  
2. The digital system shall have capacity to allow submission of applications by 
applicants established outside the Union and by national authorities of third 
countries.  
3. Information on Union applications for registration shall be made pu blic by the 
Commission upon their submission through the digital system referred to 
in paragraph(1)  
Article 60  
Scrutiny by the Commission and publication for opposition  
1. The Commission shall scrutinise any application that it receives pursuant to  Article 
65(1)  in order to check that it  contains no manifest errors, that the information 
provided in accordance with Article 58 is complete, that the product specification is 
precise and technical in nature and that the requirements  laid down 
inArticle55  andArticle56  are fulfilled. Such a scrutiny shall take into account the 
outcome of the national stage of the procedure  carried out by the Member State 
concerned.  
2. The scrutiny should  not exceed a period of 6  months. In the event that the scrutiny 
period exceeds or is likely to exceed 6 months the Commission shall inform the 
applicant of the reasons for the delay in writ ing. 
3. The Commission may seek supplementary information from the applicant.  
4. Where, based on the scrutiny carried out pursuant to paragraph 1, the Commission 
considers that the conditions laid down in this Chapter are fulfilled, it shall publish 
the pr oduct specification in the Official Journal of the European Union.  
Article 61  
National challenge to an application for registration  
1. Member States shall keep the Commission informed of any national administrative 
or judicial proceedings that may affect t he registration of a traditional speciality 
guaranteed. In such a case, Member States may request the Commission to 
suspend  the examination procedure for a period of 12 months which can be renewed.  
2. The Member State shall inform the Commission without de lay if the application to 
the Commission has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable 
but not final judicial decision. In this case, the Commission shall be exempted from 
the obligation to meet the deadline to perform the scrutiny re ferred to in  Article 
60(2)  and to inform the applicant of the reasons for the delay.  EN 63  EN 3. If the application to the Commission has been invalidated by a final decision taken 
by a  national court, the Member State shall consider appropriate action such as 
withdrawal or modification of the application, as necessary.  
Article 62  
Union opposition procedure  
1. Within 3  months from the date of publication of the product specification in t he 
Official Journal of the European Union pursuant to  Article 60 (4), the authorities of a 
Member State or of a third  country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate 
interest and established in a third  country, may lodge an opposition with the 
Commission.  
2. Any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a 
Member State other than the one  from which the Union application for registrat ion 
was submitted, may lodge an opposition with the Member State in which it is 
established, within a  time limit permitting an opposition to be lodged pursuant to the 
first paragraph.  
3. An opposition shall claim  that the application could infringe the con ditions laid down 
in this Chapter and give reasons. An opposition that does not contain the said 
claim  shall be void.   
4. The Commission shall check the admissibility of the opposition. If the Commission 
considers that the opposition is admissible it shall , within 5  months from the date of 
publication of the product specification  in the Official Journal of the European Union 
invite  the authority or person that lodged the opposition and the authority or the 
applicant  that lodged the application to engage in appropriate consultations for a 
reasonable period that shall not exceed 3  months. At any time during that period, the 
Commission may, at the request of the authority or the applicant, extend the deadline 
for the consultations by a maximum of 3  months.  
5. The authority or person that lodged the opposition and the authority or applicant that 
lodged the application shall start consultations without undue delay. They shall 
provide each other with the relevant information to assess whether the application for 
registration complies with the conditions of this Regulation.  
6. Within 1  month from the end of the consultations referred to in  paragraph(4),  the 
applicant established in the third country or the authorities of the Member State or of 
the third  country from which the Union application for registration  was lodged shall 
notify the Commission of the result of the consultations, including all the information 
exchanged, whether agreement was reached with one or all of the opponents, and of 
any consequent changes t o the application. The authority or person that lodged an 
opposition to the Commission may also notify the Commission of its position at the 
end of the consultations.  
7. Where, following the end of the consultations, the product specification published in 
accordance with  Article 60 (4) has been modified, the Commission shall repeat its 
scrutiny of the application for registration as modified. Where the application has 
been modifie d in a substantial manner, and the Commission considers the modified 
application meets the conditions for registration, it shall publish the application once 
more in accordance with that paragraph.  EN 64  EN 8. The documents referred to in this Article shall be draf ted in one of the official 
languages of the Union.  
9. After completion of the opposition procedure, the Commission shall finalise its 
assessment of the Union application for registration, taking into account any request 
for transitional periods, the outcom e of the opposition procedure  and any other 
matters arising subsequently to  its scrutiny that may imply a change of the product 
specification.  
10. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
with Article 84 complementing the rules for the opposition procedure to establish 
detailed procedures and deadlines.  
11. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presentation of oppositions. Those implementing acts shall 
be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to  in Article 
80(2) . 
Article 63  
Grounds for opposition  
1. An opposition lodged in accordance with Article 62shall be admissible only if the 
opponent:  
(a) gives duly substantiated reasons for the incompatibility of the proposed 
registration with the prov isions of this Chapter; or  
(b) demonstrates that the use of the name is lawful, renowned and economically 
significant for similar agricultural products.  
2. The criteria referred to in paragraph 1, point (b),  shall be assessed in relation to the 
territory of the Union.  
Article 64  
Transitional periods for the use of traditional specialities guaranteed  
1. The Commission may by means of implementing acts grant  a transitional period of 
up to 5  years to enable, for products the designation of which consists of o r contains 
a name that contravenes Article 69, the continued use of that  designation, under 
which they were  marketed, provided that an admissible opposition, under Article 
57(3) or Article 62, to the application for registration of the traditional speciality 
guaranteed whose protection is contravened, shows that such  desingnation has been 
legally used on the internal  market for at least 5  years preceding the date of the 
publication provided for in  Article 60 (4) . 
2. The implementing acts re ferred to in paragraph 1 shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2), except those where an 
admissible opposition is lodged under  Article  57(3), which shall be adopted without 
applying that  examination procedure.  
Article 65  
Commission decision on the application for registration  EN 65  EN 1. Where, on the basis of the information  available to the Commission from the scrutiny 
carried out pursuant to  Article 58 (3), the Commission considers that any of the 
requirements referred therein  is not fulfilled, it shall  adopt implementing acts 
rejecting the application. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance 
with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2) . 
2. Where it rec eives no admissible opposition, the Commission shall adopt 
implementing acts, without applying the procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2), 
registering the traditional speciality guaran teed.    
3. Where an admissible opposition had been received, the Commission shall:  
(a) register the name by means of implementing acts adopted without applying the 
procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2), if an agreement has been reached, after 
checking that the agreement complies with Union law, and, if necessary, amend the 
information published pursuant to  Article 60 (4)  provided such amendments are not 
substantial; or  
(b) adopt implementing acts deciding on the application for registration if an 
agreement has not been reached. Those implemen ting acts shall be adopted in 
accordance with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2) . 
4. The acts registering a traditional speciality guaranteed  shall provide for any  
condition  applicable to the registration and for the republication for information 
of the single document published for opposition in the Official Journal of the 
European Union  in case of any necessary amendments that are not substantial.  
5. Regulations o f registration and decisions on rejection shall be published in the 
Official Journal of the European Union , L series . 
Article 66  
Union register of traditional specialities guaranteed  
1. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, without applying the pro cedure 
referred to in  Article 80 (2), establishing and maintaining a publicly accessible 
electronic register of traditional specialities guaranteed  recognised under this 
Regulation  (the ‘Union register of traditional specialities guaranteed’).  
2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on the 
form and content of the Union register of traditional specialities guaranteed. Those 
implementing acts shall be adopt ed in accordance with the examination procedure 
referred to in Article 80 (2). 
Article 67  
Amendments to a product specification    
1. A producer group having a legitimate interest may ap ply for the approval of an 
amendment to the  product specification of a traditional speciality guaranteed. 
Applications shall describe and give reasons for the amendments requested.  
2. The procedure for the amendment of a product specification shall follow,  mutatis 
mutandis , the procedure laid down from  Article 57 to Article 65. EN 66  EN 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing the rules regarding the procedure for the amendment of a 
product specification.  
4. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rul es on 
procedures, the form and presentation of an application for the amendment of a 
product specification. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure referred to inArticle 80 (2) . 
Article 68  
Cancellation of the registration  
1. The Commission may, on its own initiative or at the request of any natural or legal 
person having a legitimate interest, adopt implementing acts to cancel the registration 
of a traditional speciality guaranteed in the following cases:  
(a) where compliance with the product  specification is not ensured;  
(b) where no product is placed on the market under the traditional speciality 
guaranteed for at least 7  years.  
2. The Commission may also adopt implementing acts cancelling a registration  at the 
request of the producers of the product marketed under the registered name.  
3. The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be adopted in 
accordance with t he examination procedure referred to in Article 80 (2). 
4.  Article 57 to Article 63 and Article 65 shall apply  mutatis mutandis  to the 
cancellation procedure.  
5. Before adopting the implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1  and 2, the 
Commission shall c onsult the authorities of the Member State concerned, the 
authorities of the third country concerned or, where possible, the third country 
producer which had originally applied for the registration of the traditional speciality 
guaranteed, unless the cance llation is directly requested by those original applicants.  
6. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
with Article 84 supplementing the rules regarding the  cancel lation procedure.  
7. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on 
procedures, the form and presentation of an application for the cancellation of a 
registration. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the 
examination procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2). 
Article 69  
Restriction on the use of registered traditional specialities guaranteed  
1. Registered traditional specialities guaranteed shall be protected against any misuse 
or imitation, including as regards products used as ingredients, or against any other 
practice liable to mislead the consumer.  
2. Member States shall ensure that food names used at national level do not give rise to 
confusion with registered traditional specialities guaranteed.  
3. The protection referred to in paragraph 1 shall also apply with regard to products 
sold through means of distance selling, such as electronic commerce.  EN 67  EN 4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance 
with Article 84 laying down additional rules to further detail the protection of 
traditional specialities guaranteed.   
5. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down procedural and formal 
requirements for  the protection of traditional specialities guaranteed. Those 
implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure 
referred to in  Article 80 (2) . 
Article 70  
Exceptions for certain uses  
1. The provisions of this Chapter shall be without prejudice to:  
(a) the use of terms that are generic in the Union, even if the generic term is part of 
a name that is prote cted as a traditional speciality guaranteed;  
(b) the placing on the market of products the labelling of which contains or 
comprises the denomination of a plant variety or animal breed used in good 
faith;  
(c) the application of Union rules or those of Member States governing intellectual 
property, and in particular those  concerning geographical indications and trade 
marks and rights granted under those rules.  
2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by additional rules for determining the 
generic status of terms, conditions for use of plant variety  and animal breed 
denominations for a traditional speciality guarante ed, and their relation to intellectual 
property rights referred to in this Article.  
Article 71  
Name, Union symbol and indication of a traditional speciality guaranteed  
1. A name registered as a traditional speciality guaranteed may be used by any operator 
marketing a product that conforms to the corresponding product specification.  
2. A Union symbol shall be established for use on the labelling of products designated 
as traditional speciality guaranteed. The indication ‘traditional speciality guaranteed’, 
the abbreviation ‘TSG’, and the Union symbol referring to the traditional speciality 
guaranteed may only be used in connection with products produced in conformity 
with the relevant product specification.  
3. In the case of products originating in the Union that are marketed as  traditional 
speciality guaranteed registered in accordance with this Regulation, the Union 
symbol referred to in paragraph 2 shall appear on the labelling and advertising 
materials. The labelling requirements set out in Article 13(1) o f Regulation (EU) No 
1169/2011 for the presentation of mandatory particulars shall apply to the registered 
traditional speciality guaranteed. The indication  ‘traditional speciality guaranteed’ or 
the corresponding abbreviation ‘TSG’ may appear on the label ling. 
4. The Union symbol shall be optional on the labelling of traditional specialities 
guaranteed which are produced outside the Union.  EN 68  EN 5. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing the Union symbol and 
conditions for its obligatory use, laying down rules for the uniform protection of the 
indication, abbreviation  and the Union symbol referred to in paragraph (2), its use 
and technical characteristics. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in 
accordance with the examination procedure referred to in  Article 80 (2) . 
Article 72  
Participation in the quality schemes  
1. Member States shall ensure that any operator complying with the rules  set out in this 
Chapter is covered by the verification of compliance  with the product specification 
estab lished pursuant to Article 73. Member States may charge a fee to cover their 
costs of the verification of compliance.  
2. Operators who prepare and store a product marketed under the traditional s peciality 
guaranteed or who place such products on the market shall also be subject to the 
controls and enforcement measures referred to in Article 73. 
Article 73  
Controls and enforcement  
1.  Controls of traditional specialities guaranteed include:  
(a) verification that a product designated by a traditional speciality guaranteed has 
been produced in conformity with the corresponding product specification; and  
(b) monitoring of the use of tradition al speciality guaranteed  in the marketplace, 
including on the internet.  
2. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625, Member States shall designate:  
(a) one or more competent authorities responsible for  controls of traditional 
specialities guaranteed; an d 
(b) one or more enforcement authorities, which may be the same as the competent 
authorities referred to in  point (a), responsible for the enforcement of rules on 
traditional specialities  guaranteed.   
3. Tasks referred to in paragraph (2), point (a), may be delegated to one or more 
product certification bodies in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/625.  
4. Member States shall undertake controls, based on a risk analysis, to ensure 
compliance with the requirements of this Chapter and, in the event of breach, shall 
apply appropriate penalties.  
5. When performing the controls and enforcement activities provided  for in this Article, 
the competent authorities and product certification bodies shall comply with the 
respective requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) 2017/625. However, Title VI, 
Chapter I of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 shall not apply to controls  of tr aditional 
specialities guaranteed.  
6. In respect of traditional specialities guaranteed that designate products originating in 
a third country, the verification of compliance with the product specification before 
the placing on the market of the product sh all be carried out by:  
(a) one or more of the public authorities designated by the third country; and/or  EN 69  EN (b) one or more product certification bodies.  
7. Member States shall make public the name and address  of the competent authorities 
and product certific ation  bodies referred to in paragraphs 2, point (a) and 3 
respectively, and keep that information up -to-date.  
8. The Commission shall make public the name  and address  of the competent 
authorities and product certification bodies referred to in paragraph 6  and update that 
information periodically.  
9. The Commission may establish a digital portal  where the name and the address  of the 
competent authorities and product certification bodies referred to in  paragraphs 2, 
point (a), 3 and 6  are made public.  
10. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by additional rules to provide for 
appropriate certification and accreditation p rocedures to apply in respect of product 
certification bodies referred to in paragraphs 2  and 5.  
11. The Commission may adopt implementing acts, without applying the procedure 
referred to in  Article 80 (2), defining the means by which the name and address of 
competent authorities and product certification bodies referred to in this Article shall 
be made public.  
Chapter 2  
Optional quality terms  
Article 74  
Objective and scope  
1. A scheme f or optional quality terms is established in order to facilitate the 
communication within the internal market on  the value -adding characteristics or 
attributes of agricultural products by the producers thereof.   
2. This Chapter  covers agricultural products.  
For the purposes of this Chapter, agricultural products means  agricultural products 
intended for human consumption listed in Annex I to the Treaty and other 
agricultural products and foodstuffs listed in Annex II  to this Regulation.  
This Chapter shall not  apply to spirit drinks, aromatised wines or grapevine products 
as defined in Part II of Annex VII to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, with the 
exception of wine -vinegars.  
Article 75  
National rules  
1. Member States may maintain national rules on optional qual ity terms and schemes 
which are not covered by this Regulation, provided that such rules comply with 
Union law.  
2. The Commission may establish a digital system for the inclusion of the terms and 
schemes referred to in paragraph 1 with a view to fostering knowledge of the 
products and schemes across the Union. The Commission may adopt implementing 
acts laying down technical details, necessary for the notification of the optional EN 70  EN quality terms. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the 
examination procedure referred to in Article 80 (2). 
Article 76  
Optional quality terms  
1. Optional quality terms shall satisfy the following criteria:  
(a) they relate  to a characteristi c of one or more categories of products, or to a 
farming or processing attribute which applies in specific areas;  
(b) their use adds  value to the product as compared to products of a similar type; 
and 
(c) they have  a Union dimension.  
2. Optional quality te rms that describe technical product qualities with the purpose of 
putting into effect compulsory marketing standards and are not intended to inform 
consumers about those product qualities fall outside the scope of this Chapter.  
3. Optional quality terms sh all exclude optional reserved terms which support and 
complement specific marketing standards determined on a sectoral or product 
category basis.  
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by detailed rules relating to the criteria 
referred to in paragraph 1.  
5. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules  related to forms, 
procedures or other technical d etails, necessary for the application of this Chapter. 
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination 
procedure referred to in Article 80 (2). 
6. When adopt ing delegated and implementing acts in accordance with paragraphs 4 
and 5, the Commission shall take account of any relevant international standards.  
Article 77  
Reservation of additional optional quality terms  
1. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 reserving additional optional quality terms and laying down 
their conditions of use.  
Article 78  
Mountain pr oduct  
1. The term ‘mountain product’ is established as an optional quality term. This term 
shall only be used to describe products intended for human consumption listed in 
Annex I to the Treaty in respect of which:  
(a) both the raw materials and the feedst uffs for farm animals come essentially 
from mountain areas;  
(b) in the case of processed products, the processing also takes place in mountain 
areas.  EN 71  EN 2. For the purposes of this Article, mountain areas within the Union are those delimited 
pursuant to Artic le 32(2)  of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council47. For third -country products, mountain areas include 
areas officially designated as mountain areas by the third country or that meet criteria 
equivalent to those set out  in that paragraph.  
3. In duly justified cases, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated 
acts in accordance with Article 84 laying down derogations from the conditions of 
use referred  to in paragraph 1 of this Article,  in particular  the conditions under which 
raw materials or feedstuffs are permitted to come from outside the mountain areas, 
the conditions under which the processing of products is permitted to take place 
outside the mou ntain areas in a geographical area to be defined, and the definition of 
that geographical area.  
4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts  in accordance with 
Article 84 concerning the establishment of the methods of production, and other 
criteria relevant for the application of the optional quality term established in 
paragraph 1 of this Article.  
Article 79  
Restrictions on use and monitoring  
1. An optional quality term m ay only be used to describe products that comply with the 
corresponding conditions of use.  
2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules for the use of 
optional quality terms. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with 
the examination procedure referred to in Article 80 (2). 
3. Member States shall undertake controls, based on a risk analysis, to ensure 
compliance with the requirements of this Chapter an d, in the event of breach, shall 
apply appropriate administrative penalties.  
Chapter 3  
Procedural provisions   
Article 80  
Committee procedure  
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee called the Agricultural Quality 
Committee.  That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation 
(EU) No 182/2011.  
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 
182/2011 shall apply.  
                                                 
47 Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on 
support for rural development by the European Agricultur al Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and 
repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487).  EN 72  EN Title IV  
Amendments to Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013,  (EU) 2017/1001 
and (EU) 2019/787  
Article 81  
Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013  
Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is amended as follows:  
(1)  in Article 93(1), point (b) is  replaced by the following  
(b) “geographical indication” means a name, including a traditionally used name, which 
identifies a product referred to in Article 92(1):  
(i) whose specific quality, reputation or other characteristics are attributable to its 
geographical origin;  
(ii) as originating in a specific place, region or  country;  
(iii) as having at least 85 % of the gra pes used for its production originating  exclusively from 
that geographical area;  
(iv) the production of which takes place in that geographical area; and  
(v) which is obtained from vine varieties belonging to Vitis vinifera  or a cross between the 
Vitis vinifera  species and other species of the genus Vitis.’; 
(2) Article 94 is replaced by the following:  
‘Article 94  
Product specification  
1. The product specification shall enable interested parties to verify the relevant conditions of 
production relating to  the designation of origin or geographical indication. The product 
specification shall comprise:  
(a) the name to be protected;  
(b) the type of geographical indication, being a protected designation of origin or a 
protected geographical indication;  
(c) a description of the wine or wines, including the principal analytical 
organoleptic characteristics;  
(d) where applicable, the specific oenological practices used to make the wine or 
wines, as well as relevant restrictions on making them;  
(e) the definition of the geographical area delimited with regard to the link referred 
to in point (h);  
(f) the maximum yields per hectare;  
(g) an indication of the wine grape variety or varieties  the wine or wines are 
obtained from;  
(h) the details on the link referred to i n Article 93(1), point (a)(i), or, as the case 
may be, point (b)(i):  
(i) as regards a protected designation of origin, the link between the quality 
or characteristics of the product and the geographical environment EN 73  EN referred to in Article 93(1), point (a)(i ); the details concerning the human 
factors of that geographical environment may, where relevant, be limited 
to a description of the soil, plant material and landscape management, 
cultivation practices or any other relevant human contribution to the 
mainte nance of the natural factors of the geographical environment 
referred to in that point;  
(ii) as regards a protected geographical indication, the link between a specific 
quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product, and the 
geographical or igin referred to in Article 93(1), point (b)(i);  
(i) other applicable requirements where provided for by Member States or by a 
recognised  producer group, if applicable, having regard to the fact that such 
requirements must be objective, non -discriminatory and compatible with 
national and Union law.  
2. The product specification may contain sustainability undertakings pursuant to   Article 12 of 
Regulation (EU) …/… of the European Parliament and of t he Council [Regulation on GI’s] *. 
3. Where the wine or wines may be partially de -alcoholised, the product specification shall 
also contain a description of the partially de -alcoholised wine or wines in accordance 
with paragraph (2), point (c), mutatis muta ndis, and, where applicable, the specific 
oenological practices used to make the partially de -alcoholised wine or wines, as well as the 
relevant restrictions on making them.  
* Regulation (EU) …/… of the European Parliament and of the Council of […][…] (OJ L 
[…, p….]).’;  
(3) Articles 95 to 99, Articles 101 to 106  and Article 107 are deleted.  
Article 82  
Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2017/1001  
Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 is amended as follows:  
(1) in Article 151(1), the following point is inserted:  
‘(f) administ ration of geographical indications, notably the tasks conferred on it by means of 
Commission delegated acts adopted in accordance with Article […] of Regulation (EU) …/… 
of the European Parliament and of the Council[Regulation on GIs]*  
* Regulation (EU) …/ … of the European Parliament and of the Council of […][…] (OJ L 
[…, p….]).’ . 
Article 83  
Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2019/787  
Regulation (EU) 2019/787 is amended as follows:  
(1) in Article 3, points 6 and 7 are deleted;  
(2) Articles 16 and 21 are  deleted;  
(3) Article 23 is replaced by the following:  
‘Article 23  
Single document  EN 74  EN The single document shall set out the following:  
(a) the main points of the product specification, including the name to be protected, the 
category to which the spirit drink belongs or the term ‘spirit drink’, the production method, a 
description of the characteristics of the spirit drink, a concise definition of the geographical 
area, and, where appropriate, specific rules concerning packaging and labelling;  
(b) a description of the link between the spirit drink and its geographical origin as referred to 
in Article 3, point (4), including, where appropriate, the specific elements of the product 
description or production method justifying that  link.’;  
(4) Articles 24 to 33  and Articles  35 to 40  are deleted.  
Title V  
Delegation of powers, transitional and final provisions  
Article 84  
Delegation of powers  
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the 
conditions laid down in this Article.  
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in  Article 12 (4), Article 14 (2), Article 
15(6), Article 17 (5), Article 19 (10), Article 23 (7), Article 25 (10), Article 
26(6), Article 28(3),  Article 29 (3), Article 34 (3), Article 46(1),  Article 46,  Article 
47(1), Article 48 (6), Article 48 (7), Article 49 (4),  Article 51 (3), Article 55 (5), Article 
56(2), Article 73 (10), Article 69 (4), Article 70 (2), Article 58 (3), Article 62 (10), 
Article 67 (3), Article 68 (6), Article 76 (4), Article 77 (1), Article 78 (3), Article 
78(4), shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of 7  years from [date of 
entry into force of this Regulation].  The Commission shall draw up a report in 
respect of the delegation of power not later than 9  months before the end of the 
seven -year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of 
an identi cal duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such 
extension not later than 3  months before the end of each period.  
3. The delegation of power related to in the Articles referred to  in paragraph 2  may be 
revoked at any time by the Eur opean Parliament or by the Council. A decision to 
revoke shall put an end to the delegation of power specified in that decision. It shall 
take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of 
the European Union or at a la ter date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity 
of any delegated acts already in force.  
4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by 
each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the  
Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law -Making.  
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to 
the European Parliament and to the Council.  
6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to the Articles r eferred to in paragraph 2  shall enter 
into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament 
or by the Council within a period of 2  months of notification of that act to the 
European Parliament and the Council or if, before th e expiry of that period, the 
European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they EN 75  EN will not object. That period shall be extended by 2  months at the initiative of the 
European Parliament or of the Council.  
Article 85  
Transitional provision for the classification of geographical indications  
The classification, referred to in  Article 6 (1), of geographical indications registered or applied 
for before the date of entry into force of this Regulation shall be made in accordance  with the 
table set out in Annex II I. 
Article 86  
Transitional provisions for pending applications  
1. Rules applicable before the entry into force of this Regulation shall continue to apply 
to applications for registration, applications for approval of a Union amendment to 
the product specification and requests for cancellation of geographical indications 
received by the Commission before the date of entry into force of this Regulation.   
2. However,   Article 19 to Article 22 shall apply to those applications and requests  for 
which the publication for opposition of the applic ation for registration, of the 
application for approval of a Union  amendment to the product specification or of the 
request for cancellation of a geographical indication in the EU Official Journal 
takes  place after [date of the entry into force of this reg ulation].  
3. Rules applicable before the entry into force of this Regulation shall continue to apply 
to applications for registration, applications for approval of a Union amendment to 
the product specification and requests for cancellation of traditional specialities 
guaranteed received by the Commission before the date of entry into force of this 
Regulation.   
4. However,  Article 62 to Article 65 shall apply to those applications and requests for 
which the publication for opposition of the application for registration, of the 
application for approval of a Union amendment to the product specification or of 
the request of cancellation of a  traditional speciality guaranteed in the EU Official 
Journal takes  place after [date of the entry into force of this regulation].   
Article 87  
Continuity of the registers   
1. Each designation of origin and geographical indication of wine and of agricultura l 
products, and each geographical indication of spirit drinks, with all relevant data,  and 
data concerning pending applications for registration, amendment or cancellation, 
entered in the respective geographical indications registers shall be 
entered  autom atically  into the Union register of geographical indications.   
2. Each traditional speciality guaranteed entered in the traditional specialities 
guaranteed register, with all relevant data, and data concerning pending applications 
for registration amendmen t or cancellation, on the day before the entry into 
application of this Regulation, shall be entered automatically into the Union register 
of traditional specialities guaranteed.  EN 76  EN Article 88  
Repeal  
Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 is repealed.  
References to the  repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation.  
Article 89  
Entry into force  
This Regulation shall enter into force on the [...] day following that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
This Regulation s hall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels,  
For the European Parliament  For the Council  
The President  The President  
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