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 1151/2012



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 fraudulent 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 1883, and protected in steps by the Union from the 1970s (wine) to 1992 (agricultural products and foodstuffs), including the completion of the registers in 2020. Today, the EU register of geographical indications contains almost 3500 names of wines, spirit drinks, agricultural products and foodstuffs. The Union 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 cultural, 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 product. 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 know-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 difficulty 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 objectives 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 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 intention 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 characteristics 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 protection 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 protect 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 and 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. •Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area Union legislation has provided 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 names 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 assistance 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 established 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 in 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 Fork Strategy 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 strengthening 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 2021 under REFIT initiatives, linked to the European Green Deal. As regards the climate-neutrality objective and the Union’s 2030 and 2040 climate targets, this proposal will not negatively affect the climate. In addition, the Commission announced in the Communication on an IP Action Plan that it would strengthen the protection system for GIs to make it more effective, including to fight IPR infringements. Council Conclusions on the Farm to Fork Strategy 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 GIs. 2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY •Legal basis The proposal falls within the scope of the CAP (Article 43 TFEU) and IPRs (Article 118 TFEU). As regards the CAP, requirements and rules for the placing of agricultural products, foodstuffs, 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, Regulation (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 know-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 revision 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 place 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 foodstuffs; •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 1234/2007; •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 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 proposal will entail a repeal of the first above-mentioned Regulation and amendments to the latter two. 3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS •Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation Evaluation of Union policy on GIs and TSGs protected in the Union was carried out. Its findings were published on 21 December 2021 in the Commission Staff Working Document. It covered altogether almost 3 400 GIs and 64 TSGs originating from the Member States. The purpose of the evaluation 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 awareness 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 producers, 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 environmental 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 has 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 internal 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 can 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 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 among 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 level, 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 production 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 authorities, 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, academic 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 questionnaire, 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 Assessment 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 of 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 large audience composed of GI producers, stakeholders across the food value chain, Member State officials, international and civil society organisations, EU officials as well as students and interested public took part of the event. Besides the plenary opening 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 2022. 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 greater 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 Promotion 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 consulted 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 GIs, 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: •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 choices. 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 consulted 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 sustainability, 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 promotion 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 between 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 should 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 gathering 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 participating 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. Representatives of twelve 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 participated 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 and 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 views 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 reservations 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 categories 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 summary. The impact assessment process tested three policy options for 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 enforcement, 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 more 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 criteria to be set at the Union 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 playing 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, in 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, recognised 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 terminology, 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 Assessment 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, making 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 management 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 national 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 while 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 producers 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 specification 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. •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 rules 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 require 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 Rights (Article 17(2)) to protect intellectual property. The measures foreseen will create better conditions for the protection 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 registration 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. 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 needed 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 the 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, spirit 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 Title. 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 applicant; 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 GIs, 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, indications 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 produced in conformity with the corresponding product 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 provided 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 Office (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 Protected 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 plant 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 into 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 legislation 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 chapters 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 applicable before its entry into force. The entry into force of the Regulation is defined on the [...] day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. 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 1151/2012 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 regard 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 Committee, Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, Whereas: (1)The European Green Deal 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 criteria. 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 producers 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 traditions alive while taking into account the developments of new production methods and material. (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 agricultural 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 the European Parliament and of the Council 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 Commission 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 for 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 Council and Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council 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 public 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 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, Regulation (EU) 2019/787 and the provisions adopted pursuant thereto. (8)Regulation (EU) 2016/679 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 procedures. 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 complaint 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 procedures 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 property 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 reputation 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 designated 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 case 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 contribute 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 geographical 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 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 market, 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 requirements 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 and of the Council, 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 regulations 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 application 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 application 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 afforded 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, resource efficient, socially and ethically responsible production methods, producers of geographical indications should be encouraged to adhere to sustainability 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 timely 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 considers 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 the 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 time, 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 be 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 an 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 electronic 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 trade 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 functioning 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 geographical 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 of designations 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 should 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 reputation 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 clarified 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 limitations on registration of new trade marks set out in Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and of the Council that conflict with the registration of geographical indications. Such clarification is also necessary with regard to the holders 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 indications, 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 operating 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 enforce 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 recognition 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 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 trademarks 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, provided 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 guarantee 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 therein 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, spirit 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 Council, 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 consumers 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 the principles set out in Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 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 some competences of performing 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 Standardisation 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 Council. (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 that 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 prevent 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 cases 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 Council. (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 other 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 partial 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 ensure that specificities of wine, 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 prepare 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 geographical 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 States. (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 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 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 sharpened 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 particular 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 themselves 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 with 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 associate 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. (49)Traditional specialities guaranteed should be effectively 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, registered 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 laid 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)Participation 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, including 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 scheme 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 product’ 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 mountain 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 indications 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 and 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 Related Agreement on Intellectual Property. For reasons 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 Council should also be amended. (56)In order to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements 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 recognition 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, publication 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 name, scrutiny of third country geographical 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; 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 products; 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 regard 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 product 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 determining 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 complementing 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 of 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 during its preparatory work, including at expert 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-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation 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 preparation 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 would 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 pertaining 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 Union 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 the 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 controls 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 products 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 characteristics 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, including for applications 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; rejecting 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: laying 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 Council. (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 the 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 Regulation (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. (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, mainly 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 indications 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/EC, 2002/55/EC, 2008/90/EC or Council Regulation (EU) No 2100/94, 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 Council that are listed in breeding books or breeding registers, 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 with 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) 2021/1235 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 acting 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 social value, and to operate in the market; (b)fair competition for producers in the marketing chain; (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 the 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 2658/87, 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 prejudice 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 Council shall not apply to the system of geographical indications laid down in this Regulation. Article 6 Classification 1.Products designated by geographical 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 apply: (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 products, 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 Union 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 1308/2013; (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 for 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 application 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 producers 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 neighbouring areas or the characteristics of the product are different from those produced in neighbouring areas. 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 documents 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 registration 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 conduct 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 legitimate 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 modalities 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 Member 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 1.A Member State may, on a temporary 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 implementing 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