1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2082/92
of 14 July 1992
on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs
(OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 9)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 of 14 April 2003 L 122 1 16.5.2003
Amended by:
►A1 Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C 241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
►A2 Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak
Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European
Union is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
▼B
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2082/92
of 14 July 1992
on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and
foodstuffs
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas the production, manufacture and distribution of agricultural
products and foodstuffs play an important role in the Community
economy;
Whereas, in the context of the reorientation of the common agricultural
policy, the diversification of agricultural production should be encour-aged; whereas the promotion of specific products could be of
considerable benefit to the rural economy, particularly in less-favoured
or remote areas, both by improving the income of farmers and byretaining the rural population in these areas;
Whereas, in the context of the completion of the internal market in
foodstuffs, economic operators should be provided with instrumentswhich enable them to enhance the market value of their products while
protecting consumers against improper practices and guaranteeing at
the same time fair trade;
Whereas, in accordance with the Council resolution of 9 November
1989 on future priorities for relaunching consumer protection policy (
4),
account should be taken of increasing consumer demand for greateremphasis on quality and information as regards the nature, method of
production and processing of foodstuffs and their special characteris-
tics; whereas, given the diversity of products on the market and theabundance of information concerning them, consumers must, in orderto be able to make a better choice, be provided with clear and succinctinformation regarding the specific characteristics of foodstuffs;
Whereas a voluntary system based on regulatory criteria will help
attain these aims; whereas such a system enabling producers to makeknown the quality of a foodstuff throughout the Community must offerevery guarantee so that any references which may be made to it in thetrade are substantiated;
Whereas certain producers would like to derive market value from the
specific character of agricultural products or foodstuffs because their
inherent characteristics distinguish them clearly from similar productsor foodstuffs; whereas, in order to protect the consumer, the certifiedspecific character should be subject to inspection;
Whereas, given the specific character of such products or foodstuffs,
special provisions should be adopted to supplement the labelling rules
laid down in Council Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 onthe approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to thelabelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs (
5) and whereas, in
particular, an expression and, as appropriate, a Community symbolshould be devised to accompany the trade description of such products1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 30, 6. 2. 1991, p. 4 and
OJ No C 71, 20. 3. 1992, p. 14.
(2) OJ No C 326, 16. 12. 1991, p. 40.
(3) OJ No C 40, 17. 2. 1992, p. 3.
(4) OJ No C 294, 22. 11. 1989, p. 1.
(5) OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 1. Last amended by Directive 91/72/EEC (OJ No
L 42, 15. 2. 1991, p. 27).
▼B
or foodstuffs informing the consumer that it is a product or foodstuff
presenting inspected specific characteristics;
Whereas, to guarantee that agricultural products and foodstuffs consis-
tently possess the certified specific characteristics, groups of producersmust themselves define the said characteristics in a product specifica-
tion but whereas the rules for approving inspection bodies responsible
for checking that the product specification is complied with must beuniform throughout the Community;
Whereas, in order not to create unfair conditions of competition, any
producer must be able to use either a registered trade descriptiontogether with details and, where appropriate, a Community symbol ora trade description registered as such, as long as the agriculturalproduct or foodstuff he produces or processes complies with the
requirements of the relevant specification and the inspection body he
has selected is approved;
Whereas provision should be made for allowing trade with third coun-
tries offering equivalent guarantees for the issue and inspection ofcertificates of specific character in their territory;
Whereas, if they are to be attractive to producers and reliable for
consumers, expressions relating to the specific character of an agricul-tural product or a foodstuff must be granted legal protection and besubject to official inspection;
Whereas a procedure should be provided for to establish close coopera-
tion between the Member States and the Commission in a regulatorycommittee set up for the purpose,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. This Regulation lays down rules under which a Community certi-
ficate of specific character may be obtained for:
— agricultural products listed in Annex II to the Treaty and intended
for human consumption,
— foodstuffs listed in the Annex to this Regulation.
The Annex may be amended in accordance with the procedure set out
in Article 19.
2. This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to other specific
Community provisions.
3. Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1989 laying down a
procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical
standards and regulations (1) shall not apply to certificates of specific
character which are the subject of this Regulation.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Regulation:
1. ‘specific character’ shall mean the feature or set of features which
distinguishes an agricultural product or a foodstuff clearly fromother similar products or foodstuffs belonging to the same category.
The presentation of an agricultural product or a foodstuff is not
regarded as a feature within the meaning of the first subparagraph.
Specific character may not be restricted to qualitative or quantitative
composition or to a mode of production laid down in Community ornational legislation, in standards set by standardization bodies or in
voluntary standards; however, this rule shall not apply where the
said legislation or standard has been established in order to definethe specific character of a product;1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8. Last amended by Decision 90/230/EEC (OJ
No L 128, 18. 5. 1990, p. 15).
▼B
2. ‘group’ shall mean any association, irrespective of its legal form or
composition, of producers and/or processors working with the sameagricultural product or foodstuff. Other interested parties may parti-
cipate in the group;
3. ‘certificate of specific character’ shall mean recognition by the
Community of the specific character of a product by means of itsregistration in accordance with this Regulation.
Article 3
The Commission shall set up and administer a register of certificates of
specific character which will list the names of agricultural products andfoodstuffs of which the specific character has been recognized atCommunity level in accordance with this Regulation.
The register shall distinguish between the names referred to in Article
13 (1) and those referred to in Article 13 (2).
Article 4
1. In order to appear in the register referred to in Article 3, an agri-
cultural product or foodstuff must either be produced using traditionalraw materials or be characterized by a traditional composition or amode of production and/or processing reflecting a traditional type ofproduction and/or processing.
2. Registration shall not be permitted in the case of an agricultural
product or foodstuff the specific character of which is due:
(a) to its provenance or geographical origin;
(b) solely to application of a technological innovation.
Article 5
1. To be registered, the name must:
— be specific in itself, or
— express the specific character of the agricultural product or the
foodstuff.
2. A name expressing specific character, as referred to in the second
indent of paragraph 1, may not be registered if:
— it refers only to claims of a general nature used for a set of agricul-
tural products or foodstuffs, or to those provided for by specificCommunity legislation,
— it is misleading, such as that, in particular, which refers to an
obvious characteristic of the product or does not correspond to thespecification or to the consumer's expectations in view of the char-acteristics of the product.
3. In order to be registered, a specific name as referred to in the first
indent of paragraph 1 must be traditional and comply with nationalprovisions or be established by custom.
4. The use of geographical terms shall be authorized in a name not
covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14 July 1992 on
the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin foragricultural products and foodstuffs (
1).
Article 6
1. In order to qualify for a certificate of specific character, an agri-
cultural product or foodstuff must comply with a product specification.
2. The product specification shall include at least:
— the name within the meaning of Article 5, in one or more
languages,1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 4
(1) See p. 1 of this Official Journal (SIC! OJ No L 208, 24. 7. 1992, p. 1.)
▼B
— a description of the method of production, including the nature and
characteristics of the raw material and/or ingredients used and/orthe method of preparation of the agricultural product or the food-
stuff, referring to its specific character,
— aspects allowing appraisal of traditional character, within the
meaning of Article 4 (1),
— a description of the characteristics of the agricultural product or the
foodstuff giving its main physical, chemical, microbiological and/ororganoleptic characteristics which relate to the specific character,
— the minimum requirements and inspection procedures to which
specific character is subject.
Article 7
1. Only a group shall be entitled to apply for registration of the
specific character of an agricultural product or a foodstuff.
2. The application for registration comprising the product specifica-
tion shall be submitted to the competent authority of the Member Statein which the group is established.
3. The competent authority shall forward the application to the
Commission if it considers that the requirements of Articles 4, 5 and6 are fulfilled.
4. No later than the date of entry into force of this Regulation,
Member States shall publish the particulars of the competent authorities
which they have designated and shall inform the Commission accord-ingly. Austria, Finland and Sweden shall publish such particularswithin 6 months of their accession. ►
A2 The Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia
and Slovakia shall publish such particulars within a period of six
months from the date of their accession. ◄
Article 8
1. The Commission shall forward the translated application for
registration to the other Member States within a period of six monthsfrom the date of receipt of the application referred to in Article 7 (3).
As soon as the forwarding referred to in the first subparagraph has been
carried out, the Commission shall publish in the Official Journal of the
European Communities the main points of the application forwarded by
the competent authority referred to in Article 7 and, in particular, the
name of the agricultural product or the foodstuff, as prescribed by the
first indent of Article 6 (2), and the applicant's references.
2. The competent authorities of the Member States shall ensure that
all persons who can demonstrate a legitimate economic interest are
authorized to consult the application referred to in paragraph 1. In addi-tion, and in accordance with the rules in force in the Member States,the said competent authorities may provide access to other partieswith a legitimate interest.
3. Within five months of the date of publication referred to in para-
graph 1, any natural or legal person legitimately concerned by theregistration may object to the intended registration by sending a dulysubstantiated statement to the competent authorities of the Member
State in which that person resides or is established.
4. The competent authorities of the Member States shall adopt the
necessary measures to take account of the statement referred to in para-
graph 3 within the period laid down. Member States may also submit
objections on their own initiative.
Article 9
1. If no objections are notified to the Commission within six
months, the Commission shall enter in the register provided for inArticle 3 the main points referred to in Article 8 (1) and publish themin the Official Journal of the European Communities.1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 5
▼B
2. If objections are notified, the Commission shall, within three
months, ask the Member States concerned to seek agreement betweenthemselves in accordance with their internal procedures within a further
period of three months. If:
(a) such agreement is reached, the Member States in question shall
notify the Commission of all the factors which enabled that agree-ment to be reached and the opinions of the applicant and theobjector. If the information received pursuant to Article 6 (2) isunchanged, the Commission shall proceed in accordance with para-graph 1 above. Otherwise, it shall again initiate the procedure laid
down in Article 8;
(b) no agreement is reached, the Commission shall decide on the regis-
tration in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19. Ifa decision is taken to register the specific character, the Commis-
sion shall proceed in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
Article 10
1. Any Member State may submit that a criterion laid down in the
product specification of an agricultural product or a foodstuff covered
by a Community certificate of specific character has ceased to be met.
2. The Member State referred to in paragraph 1 shall make its
submission to the Member State concerned. The Member State
concerned shall examine the complaint and inform the other MemberState of its findings and of any measures taken.
3. In the event of repeated irregularities and the failure of the
Member States to come to an agreement, a duly substantiated applica-tion must be sent to the Commission.
4. The Commission shall examine the application by consulting the
Member States concerned. Where appropriate, the Commission shall
take the necessary steps in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 19. These may include cancellation of the registration.
Article 11
1. A Member State may, at the request of a group established in its
territory, apply for an amendment to the product specification.
2. The Commission shall ensure that the request for amendment and
the applicant's references are published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities . Article 8 (2), (3) and (4) shall apply.
The competent authorities of the Member State shall ensure that any
producer and/or processor applying the product specification for whichan amendment has been requested is informed of the publication.
3. Within three months of the date of the publication provided for in
paragraph 2, any producer and/or processor applying the product speci-fication for which an amendment has been requested may exercise his
right to preserve the initial product specification by forwarding a state-
ment to the competent authority of the Member State in which he isestablished, which must forward it to the Commission together withits comments, if appropriate.
4. If no objection or statement as referred to in paragraph 3 is noti-
fied to the Commission within four months of the date of publicationlaid down in paragraph 2, the Commission shall enter the requested
amendment in the register provided for in Article 3 and publish it in
the Official Journal of the European Communities.
5. If an objection or a statement as referred to in paragraph 3 is noti-
fied to the Commission, the amendment shall not be registered. In suchcase the requesting group, referred to in paragraph 1, may apply for anew certificate of specific character in accordance with the procedurelaid down in Articles 7 to 9.1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 6
▼B
Article 12
In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19, the Commis-
sion may define a Community symbol which may be used in the
labelling, presentation and advertising of agricultural products or food-
stuffs carrying a Community certificate of specific character inaccordance with this Regulation.
Article 13
1. From the date of publication provided for in Article 9 (1), the
name referred to in Article 5, together with the indication referred toin Article 15 (1), and, where appropriate, the Community symbolreferred to in Article 12, shall be reserved for the agricultural productor the foodstuff corresponding to the published product specification.
2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, the name alone shall be
reserved for the agricultural product or the foodstuff corresponding tothe published product specification where:
(a) the group so requested in its application for registration;
(b) the procedure referred to in Article 9 (2) (b) does not show that use
of the name is lawful, recognized and economically significant for
similar agricultural products or foodstuffs.
Article 14
1. Member States shall ensure that at the latest six months following
the date of entry into force of this Regulation inspection structures arein place, the function of which shall be to ensure that agriculturalproducts and foodstuffs carrying a certificate of specific charactermeet the criteria laid down in the specifications. In the case of Austria,Finland and Sweden the above period shall begin from the date of their
accession. ►
A2 In the case of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus,
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia theabove period shall begin from the date of their accession. ◄
2. An inspection structure may comprise one or more designated
inspection authorities and/or private bodies approved for that purposeby the Member State. Member States shall forward to the Commission
lists of the authorities and/or bodies approved and their respective
powers. The Commission shall publish these particulars in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.
3. Designated inspection authorities and/or private bodies must offer
adequate guarantees of objectivity and impartiality with regard to allproducers or processors subject to their control and have permanentlyat their disposal the qualified staff and resources necessary to carry
out inspections of agricultural products and foodstuffs covered by a
Community certificate of specific character.
If an inspection structure uses the services of another body for some
inspections, that body must offer the same guarantees. However, thedesignated inspection authorities and/or approved private bodies shallcontinue to be responsible vis-à-vis the Member State for all inspec-
tions.
As from 1 January 1998, in order to be approved by a Member State
for the purpose of this Regulation, bodies must fulfil the requirementslaid down in standard EN 45011 of 26 June 1989.
4. If a Member State's designated inspection authority and/or private
body establishes that an agricultural product or a foodstuff carrying acertificate of specific character issued by that Member State does not
meet the criteria of the specification, it shall take the steps necessary
to ensure that this Regulation is complied with. It shall inform theMember State of the measures taken in carrying out its inspections.The parties concerned must be notified of all decisions taken.
5. A Member State must withdraw approval from an inspection
body where the criteria referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 are no longerfulfilled. It shall inform the Commission, which shall publish in the1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 7
▼B
Official Journal of the European Communities a revised list of
approved bodies.
6. Member States shall adopt the measures necessary to ensure that
a producer who complies with this Regulation has access to the inspec-tion system.
7. The costs of the inspections provided for by this Regulation shall
be borne by the users of the certificate of specific character.
Article 15
1. The following may be used only by producers complying with the
registered product specification:
— an indication to be determined in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 19,
— where appropriate, the Community symbol, and,— subject to Article 13 (2), the registered name.
2. A producer using, for the first time after registration, a name
reserved pursuant to Article 13 (1) or (2), even if he belongs to thegroup making the original application, shall in due course notify a
designated inspection authority or body of the Member State in which
he is established thereof.
3. The designated inspection authority or body shall ensure that the
producer complies with the published information before the product isplaced on the market.
Article 16
Without prejudice to international agreements, this Regulation shall
apply to agricultural products and foodstuffs coming from a thirdcountry, on condition that the third country:
— is able to provide guarantees identical or equivalent to those
referred to in Articles 4 and 6,
— has inspection arrangements equivalent to those defined in Article
14,
— is prepared to give protection equivalent to that available in the
Community to corresponding agricultural products or foodstuffscoming from the Community and covered by a Community certifi-
cate of specific character.
Article 17
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure legal
protection against any misuse or misleading use of the term referred toin Article 15 (1) and, where applicable, of the Community symbol
referred to in Article 12 and against any imitation of names registered
and reserved pursuant to Article 13.
2. Registered names shall be protected against any practice liable to
mislead the public including, inter alia , practices suggesting that the
agricultural product or foodstuff is covered by a certificate of specific
character issued by the Community.
3. Member States shall inform the Commission and the other
Member States of the measures taken.
Article 18
Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that sales
descriptions used at national level do not give rise to confusion with
names registered and reserved pursuant to Article 13 (2).
Article 19
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 8
▼M1
▼M1
2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 5 and 7 of Deci-
sion 1999/468/EC (1) shall apply.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Article 20
Detailed rules for applying this Regulation shall be adopted in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 19.
Article 21
Within five years of the date on which this Regulation enters into
force, the Commission shall submit to the Council a report on theapplication of the Regulation, together with any appropriate proposals.
The report shall cover, in particular, the consequences of applying Arti-
cles 9 and 13.
Article 22
This Regulation shall enter into force twelve months after its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities .1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 9
(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.▼B
▼B
ANNEX
Foodstuffs referred to in Article 1 (1)
— Beer,
— Chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa,
— Confectionery, bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other baker's wares,
— Pasta, whether or not cooked or stuffed,— Pre-cooked meals,— Prepared condiment sauces,— Soups or broths,— Beverages made from plant extracts,— Ice-cream and sorbets.1992R2082 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 003.001 — 10