EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/852

(2004/C 84 E/0945)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0706/04

by Jaime Valdivielso de Cué (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(9 March 2004)

Subject: Wine

It came as a surprise when, in February, the Commission adopted an amendment to the Regulation on wine labelling, allowing third countries to market wines using traditional EU nomenclature, such as crianza, reserva or gran reserva, against the wishes of the producer countries.

Furthermore, for years now the Commission has been conducting thorny negotiations, both bilaterally and through the WTO, with a view to preserving our traditional appellations. Only recently have various third countries lodged complaints with the WTO against Regulation (CE) 753/2002 (1) on the labelling of wine, since in practice, it does not authorise the use of the traditional Community terminology.

Why did the Commission not wait until the WTO returned its opinion before it made any amendment to the EU legislation, and thus not throw away the chance of defending our interests at WTO level?

What criteria does this change in the traditional EU stance on this issue obey?

What does the Commission estimate the losses to the sector at?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(13 April 2004)

The Commission was led to adopt new rules on the description, designation and protection of certain wine sector products in order to avert the possibility of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel, which would have represented a serious threat to the European policy on wine labelling.

As referred to in the written question, following notification of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 (2) to the World Trade Organisation several third countries sent their comments and expressed reservations to the WTO. Two consultations were held in Geneva on the matter. The exclusive protection of certain traditional terms (part B) was regarded by the third countries as a new intellectual property right on the part of the European Union under the TRIPS Agreement, in addition to that of geographical indications. A WTO panel along those lines could have jeopardised EU policy on the protection of geographical indications and was therefore to be avoided.

In the light of the comments made by third countries, the Commission decided to make a number of changes to the Regulation in question. Those changes mainly relate to the possibility for third countries to use certain traditional terms in compliance with the same rules as apply to Member States.

Account also had to be taken of the fact that several third countries do not have a centralised regulatory system for the wine sector. The European requirements on the legislative system were therefore amended and the ‘regulation’ principle was replaced by the ‘applicable rules’ principle. Such rules include those issued by representative professional organisations. A definition of ‘representativeness’ was also inserted.

It is also important to stress that Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 (3) makes no reference to the two types of traditional names, unlike Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002, but only to the possibility for the Commission to adopt standards on traditional indications in accordance with the provisions in force in the Member States.

The new conditions for third countries' use of Community traditional names are equivalent to the previous conditions of use under Annex III, part A to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002.

According to Article 1(10) of Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 (4) amending Article 37(1)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002, those conditions include the following:

(a) the third countries must make a substantiated request to the Commission and forward the relevant rules justifying recognition of the traditional indications;

(b) the language of the traditional indication must be the official language of the third country which makes the request, and the indication in that language must have been used for at least 10 years;

(c) if the language of the traditional indication is not the official language, its use must be provided for by the legislation of the third country in question; in that case, the traditional indication in that language must have been used continuously for at least 25 years;

(d) other criteria stipulated by the same Regulation, such as the indication's specific nature and distinctive character and removing the possibility of deception, must likewise be met.

In the specific case of the Spanish traditional terms ‘Reserva’, ‘Gran Reserva’ and ‘Crianza’ referred to in the written question to the Commission, the conditions governing their use in the Community by third countries remain unchanged, since those terms were already listed in Annex III, Part A to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002.

(1) OJ L 118, 4.5.2002, p. 1.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine sector products, OJ L 118, 4.5.2002.

(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine, OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(4) Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 of 20 February 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 -OJ L 55, 24.2.2004.