Council Regulation (EC) No 1347/2001 of 28 June 2001 supplementing the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92
Date: 2001-06-28
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Germany, beer, consumer information, designation of origin, location of production

5.7.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 182/3

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1347/2001

of 28 June 2001

supplementing the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of
geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(4)

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14
July 1992 on the protection of geographical indications and
designations of origin for agricultural products and food-
stuffs (1), and in particular Article 17(2) thereof,

(5)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Additional information was requested for a name noti-
fied by Germany under Article 17 of Regulation (EEC)
No 2081/92 in order to ensure that it complied with
Articles 2 and 4 of that Regulation. That additional
information shows that the name complies with the said
Articles. It should therefore be registered and added to
the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/
96 (2).

Following notification of the application by the German
authorities to register the name ‘Bayerisches Bier’ as a
protected geographical indication, the Dutch and Danish
authorities informed the Commission of the existence of
trade marks used for beer which include that name.

The information provided confirms the existence of the
name ‘Bavaria’ as a valid trade mark. In view of the facts
and information available, it was, however, considered
that registration of the name ‘Bayerisches Bier’ was not
liable to mislead the consumer as to the true identity of
the product. Consequently, the geographical indication
‘Bayerisches Bier’ and the trade mark ‘Bavaria’ are not in

the situation referred to in Article 14(3) of Regulation
(EEC) No 2081/92.

The use of certain trade marks, for example, the Dutch
trade mark ‘Bavaria’ and the Danish trade mark ‘Høker
Bajer’ may continue notwithstanding the registration of
the geographical indication ‘Bayerisches Bier’ as long as
they fulfil the conditions provided for in Article 14(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.

In accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No
2081/92, the generic nature of a name hindering its
registration must be assessed with regard to the
Community situation as a whole. In this particular case,
despite evidence to the effect that the terms ‘bajersk’ and
‘bajer’, Danish translations of the name ‘Bayerisches’, are
becoming synonyms for the term ‘beer’ and hence a
common name, the generic nature of the name ‘Bayeri-
sches’ or its translations in other languages and Member
States has not been demonstrated.

(6)

The Committee established under Article 15 of Regula-
tion (EEC) No 2081/92 has not delivered an opinion
within the time limit set by its chairman,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The name in the Annex to this Regulation shall be added to the
Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96.

Article 2

(1) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commis-
sion Regulation (EC) No 2796/2000 (OJ L 324, 21.12.2000, p. 26).
(2) OJ L 148, 21.6.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regula-

tion (EC) No 913/2001 (OJ L 129, 11.5.2001, p. 8).

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

L 182/4

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Official Journal of the European Communities

5.7.2001

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 28 June 2001.

For the Council

The President

B. ROSENGREN

ANNEX

Beer

GERMANY

Bayerisches Bier (PGI)