G/TBT/N/EU/432/Rev.1  
 
12 December 2018  
(18-7846) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
Revision  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.  
 
1. Notifying Member: EUROPEAN UNION  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  European Commission  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
European Commission  
EU-TBT Enquiry Point  
Fax: +(32) 2 299 80 43  
E-mail: grow-eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools -databases/tbt/   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Spirit 
drinks  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Proposal for a 
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the  definition, description, 
presentation, labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the 
presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications 
of spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and disti llates of agricultural origin in alcoholic 
beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 (117 pages, in English)  
6. Description of content: On 27 November 2018 the European Parliament (EP) and the 
Council of the European Union reached political agreement on the proposal for a 
Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the definition, description, 
presentation and labelling of spirit 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 , and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 . The Appendix to this notification 
explains the main changes in the compromise text with respect to the Commission 
proposal notified to the WTO on 16 December 2016 under reference G/TBT/N/EU/432.  
7. Objective an d rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  The objectives of the draft Regulation are: a) to update the rules applicable 
to the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks and to the use of 
the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs b) to review 
the modalities for the registration of geographical indications of spirit drinks, c) to align 
the powers conferred upon the Commission to the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union.  G/TBT/N/EU/432/Rev.1  
 
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  8. Relevant documents:  
• Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the 
protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks ( OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16 ) 
and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 716/2013 of 25 July 2013 
laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 on the 
definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographica l 
indications of spirit drinks ( OJ L 201, 26.7.2013, p. 21 ) http://eur -
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:039:0016:0054:EN:PD
F 
9. Proposed date of adoption:  April 2019  
Proposed date of entry into force: April 2019 (7 days from publication in the Official 
Journal of the EU). Application: 2 weeks after entry into force for all rules relating to 
geographical indications and 2 years aft er entry into force for rules on production and 
labelling (approximately mid -2021).  
10. Final date for comments: 30 days from notification  
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [  ] or address, telephone or fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:   
European Commission  
EU-TBT Enquiry Point  
Fax: + (32) 2 299 80 43  
E-mail: grow-eu-tbt@ec.europa.eu  
The text and the appendix to this revision are available on the EU -TBT Website:  
http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools -databases/tbt/  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2018/TBT/EEC/18_6405_00_e.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2018/TBT/EEC/18 _6405_01_e.pdf