EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2012) XXX  draft 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX  
amending Annexes II and III to Regulati on (EC) No 110/2008 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the definiti on, description, presentation, labelling and 
the protection of ge ographical indications of spirit drinks 
  
EN 2   EN COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No …/.. 
of XXX 
amending Annexes II and III to Regulati on (EC) No 110/2008 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the definiti on, description, presentation, labelling and 
the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks 
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, 
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labe lling and the 
protection of geographical in dications of spirit drinks
1, and in particular Article 26 thereof, 
Whereas: (1) Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 provides for the po ssibility to use the term 
"dry" for the category of spirit drink " London gin ". That spirit drink is not allowed to 
contain added sweetening exceeding 0,1 gram of sugars per litre. For the categories of 
spirit drinks “ gin” and “ distilled gin ” there is no established limit for the addition of 
sweetening. However, when “ gin” and “ distilled gin ” are produced without sugar or 
with a sugar content not exceeding 0,1 gram pe r litre, the possibility to use the term 
"dry" should be extended to those spirit drinks as defined in that Annex.  
(2) Absinth is a spirit drink traditionally produced  in some Member States. It is obtained 
by the maceration and/or distillation of the pl ant with the same name in ethyl alcohol 
of agricultural origin. The marketing of pr oducts described as "absinth" is gradually 
increasing in the Union. Consequently, the Member States producing this product have 
requested the Commission to establish a definition for "absinth". A new product 
category "absinth" setting out such a defin ition should therefore be included in Annex 
II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. 
(3) Hungary has applied for the registra tion of 'Újfehértói meggypálinka' as a 
geographical indication in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, in accordance 
with the procedure provided for in Article 17(1) of that Regulation. 'Újfehértói meggypálinka' is a fruit spirit traditionally produced in Hungary, exclusively from the 
cherry varieties ‘Újfehértó i fürtös’ and ‘Debreceni b őtermő’. The main specifications 
of the technical file for 'Újfehér tói meggypálinka' were published in the Official 
Journal of the European Union
2 for the purposes of the objection procedure, pursuant 
to Article 17(6) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. As the Commission did not receive 
any objections in accordance with Article 17(7) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, the 
                                                 
1 OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16.  
2 OJ C 85, 18.3.2011, p. 10.  
EN 3   EN name 'Újfehértói meggypálinka' should be re gistered as a geogra phical indication in 
Annex III to that Regulation. 
(4) The geographical indications " Polska Wódka/Polish Vodka " and " Originali lietuviška 
degtinė/Original Lithuanian vodka"  are registered for produ ct category 15. "Vodka", 
of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. However, the technical specifications 
for those geographical indications also cover flavoured vodka. Therefore, those 
geographical indications shoul d also be included in pr oduct category 31, "Flavoured 
vodka" of that Annex. In order to inform the consumer of  the true nature of the 
product, the label of that t ype of vodka should bear the sales denomination "flavoured 
vodka" or "vodka" with the predominant flavour. 
(5) Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly. 
(6) To facilitate the transition from the rule s provided for in Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 
to those set out in this Regulation, the mark eting of existing stocks should be foreseen 
until they run out and the use of labels prin ted before the date of entry into force of 
this Regulation should be allowed until 31 December 2013. 
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulati on are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Committee for Spirit Drinks, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 
Annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 are amended as follows: 
(1) Annex II is amended as follows: 
(a) in point 20. ' Gin', the following point (d) is added: 
"(d) The term gin may be supplemented by the term " dry" if it does not 
contain added sweetening exceeding 0,1 gr am of sugars per litre of the 
final product." 
(b) in point 21. 'Distilled gin', the following point (d) is added: 
"(d) The term distilled gin  may be supplemented by the term " dry" if it does 
not contain added sweetening exceedi ng 0,1 gram of sugars per litre of 
the final product." 
(c) the following point 25a is inserted: 
"25a. Absinth (a) Absinth  is a spirit drink produced by flavouring ethyl alcohol of 
agricultural origin or distillate of  agricultural origin with absinth 
wormwood ( Artemisia absinthum L .) in combination with other plants as 
Roman wormwood ( Artemisia pontica L. ), anise ( Pimpinella anisum L .), 
fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare Mill .), hyssop ( Hyssopus officinalis ), mint  
EN 4   EN (Mentha spp. ) or with other plants provided that their taste is not 
predominant, using the following processes or a combination thereof: 
(i) maceration and/or distilla tion at less than 86% vol.; 
(ii) re-distillation of alcohol contai ning grains or other parts of the 
plants referred to in the in troductory phrase of this point; 
(iii) addition of natural distilled extrac ts of the plants referred to in the 
introductory phrase of this point. 
(b) The minimum alcoholic strength by volume of absinth  shall be 40%.  
(c) Absinth  shall contain a quantity of t huyone (alpha and beta) between 5 
milligrams per litre and 35 milligrams per litre. 
(d) Absinth  shall have a minimum anethole level of 0.5 gram per litre.  
(e) Absinth  may have a maximum sugar content of 50 grams per litre 
expressed as invert sugar. 
(f) Absinth  shall not be coloured by other substances than those referred 
to in point (a), except for: 
– the food colours authorised on the basis of quantum satis,  referred 
to in Part I of Annex V to Directive 94/36/EC, and  
– from 1 June 2013, the food colours authorised on the basis of 
quantum satis , referred to in  Group II in point 14.2.6. of Part E of 
Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council*.  
* OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 16.”  
(2) Annex III is amended as follows: 
(a) in product category 9. "Fruit spirit", the follo wing entry is added: 
" 
 Újfehértói meggypálinka Hungary 
" 
(b) in product category 31. "Flavoured vodka ", the following entry is added: 
" 
 Polska Wódka/Polish Vodka *  
Originali lietuviška degtin ė/ 
Original Lithuanian vodka * Poland 
Lithuania  
EN 5   EN * This product must bear on the labe l the sales denomination "flavoured 
vodka". The term "flavoured" may be repl aced by the name of the predominant 
flavour. 
Article 2 
Spirit drinks not meeting th e requirements of Regulation (E C) No 110/2008 as amended by 
Article 1 of this Regulation may continue to be placed on the market until stocks run out. 
Labels printed before the date of entry into fo rce of this Regulation may continue to be used 
until 31 December 2013. 
Article 3 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following  that of its publication in the 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission 
 José Manuel Barroso  
 The President