Report from the Commission to the Council on Tokaj
Date: 2006-12-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Hungary, agreement (EU), designation of origin, report, trade agreement, trade promotion, wine

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.12.2006 
COM(2006) 837 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on Tokaj 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

on Tokaj 

The Agreement of 1993 between the European Community and Republic of Hungary on the 
reciprocal  protection  and  control  of  wine  names  (hereinafter  'the  EU-Hungarian  wine 
agreement')1 stipulated that the geographical indications listed in the annex to the agreement, 
among  others  the  term  TOKAJ,  were  reserved  exclusively  for  the  wines  originating  in 
Hungary  to  which  they  applied.  In  a  joint  declaration  to  the  agreement,  in  respect  to 
homonymous or identical geographical indications, the contracting parties agreed that all the 
derived forms  of the name TOKAJ, e.g. TOKAJSHKE, TOKAJER, etc., were protected for 
Hungary. 

The  agreement  established  further  a  transitional  period  of  thirteen  years  from  the  entry  into 
force of that agreement, ending on 31 March 2007, during which French and Italian producers 
may  respectively  use  the  term  TOKAY  and  TOCAI  for  grapevine  varieties  under  specific 
conditions defined in the agreement. 

The Community had not concluded any wine agreement with Slovakia. 

Due to the enlargement of the EU, the 1993 EU-Hungarian wine agreement was superseded 
by the Accession Treaty and became ‘caduc’ on 1 May 2004 but its content is now included 
in the acquis. Consequently, 

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the  Hungarian  and  Slovakian  geographical  indications  TOKAJ  are  'quality  wines 
produced  in  a  specified  region'  pursuant  to  Article  54  of  Council  Regulation  (EC) 
No 1493/19992.  As  such,  they  benefit  from  a  labelling  protection  provided  for  in 
Article 48  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 1493/1999.  The  protection  is  also  extended  to 
translations, such as TOKAY in French and TOCAI in Italian. 

the  phasing-out  periods  for  France  and  Italy  for  the  use  on  wine  labels  of  the  vine 
varieties  using  the  terms  TOKAY / TOCAI  are  now  covered  by  Article  19(2)  of 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  753/2002  3  and  in  particular  Annex  II  thereof. 
Pursuant  to  these  provisions,  the  use  on  wine  labels  of  the  vine  varieties  TOKAY 
PINOT  GRIS  (France),  TOCAI  ITALICO  (Italy)  and  TOCAI  FRUILANO  (Italy) 
shall  cease  on  31  March  2007.  This  approach  complies  with  Article  24(6)4  of  the 
WTO-TRIPS Agreement. 

Council  Decision  93/724/EC  of  23  November  1993  concerning  the  conclusion  of  an  Agreement 
between the European Community and Republic of Hungary on the reciprocal protection and control of 
wine names (OJ L 337, 31.12.1993, p. 93). 
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, p. 1). 
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, p. 1.) 
Article 24(6) of the WTO-TRIPS Agreement: "Nothing in this Section shall require a Member to apply 
its provisions in respect of a geographical indication of any other Member with respect to products of 
the  vine  for  which  the  relevant  indication  is  identical  with  the  customary  name  of  a  grape  variety 
existing in the territory of that Member as of the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement." 

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However,  this  issue  was  raised  several  times  during  the  accession  negotiations, 
leading to the attachment of the following Council declaration to the minutes of the 
General Affairs Council of 18 November 2002: 

"Le  Conseil  rappelle  que,  conformément  à  l'acquis  communautaire,  certains  vins 
produits  en  Italie  et  en  France  peuvent  être  respectivement  dénommés  'TOCAI'  et 
'TOKAY  PINOT  GRIS'  jusqu'au  31  mars  2007.  Le  Conseil  invite  la  Commission  à 
présenter,  en  2006,  un  rapport  détaillé  sur  la  question,  afin  d'adopter,  pour  la 
période  au-delà  de  2007,  les  mesures  qui  paraîtraient  nécessaires,  en  prenant  en 
considération  les  intérêts  des  producteurs  ainsi  que  de  la  politique  de  l'Union 
concernant la protection des dénominations géographiques." 

The following shall also be borne in mind: 

French wine producers in Alsace used to use the term TOKAY for wines produced with the 
vine variety 'Pinot gris'. During the phasing-out period which will expire on 31 March 2007, 
wine  producers  of  Alsace  are  authorised  to  continue  to  use  the  term  TOKAY  but  in 
association with its synonym, namely 'Pinot gris'. After 31 March 2007, France agrees that the 
wines produced with this vine variety will only be able to use the name PINOT GRIS. 

Italian  wine  producers  in  Friuli  will  cease  to  use  the  term  TOCAI  on  wine  labels  after 
31 March 2007 and will use the name FRIULANO. 

Moreover, as far as the vine variety TOCAI ITALICO is concerned, it is neither mentioned by 
the  OIV5  in  the  'international  list  of  vine  varieties  and  their  synonyms'  listing,  nor  in  the 
professional lists (UPOV or IBPGR). Therefore, according to Article 20(3)6 of Commission 
Regulation (EC) No 1227/2000 of 31 May 20007, this vine variety cannot be used any more 
by Italy. 

In the judgement in case C-347/03 handed down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 
12 May  2005,  the  Court  confirmed  that  the  phasing-out  period  is  valid.  Judgments  in  cases 
T-417/04, T-418/04 and T-431/04 before the ECJ relating to the same subject are pending. 

Finally, at international level, since 2004, the Commission intends to protect the geographical 
indication TOKAJ in third countries and to avoid that this name is used as a vine variety. The 
Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America8 of 10 March 
2006 provides for the prohibition of the use in the Community of the term TOKAY as a vine 
variety designation on US wine labels. The Agreement between the European Community and 
Australia (not initialled yet) intends to prohibit the use in the Community of the term TOKAY 
as a vine variety designation on Australian wine labels. 

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Organisation internationale de la vigne et du vin (International Wine Office). 
Article 20(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1227/2000:   
"The  names  and  synonymous  names  of  classified  varieties  shall  follow  those  laid  down  by  any  of: 
(a) 
(b) 
(c) 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1227/2000  of  31  May  2000  laying  down  detailed  rules  for  the 
application  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 1493/1999  on  the  common  organisation  of  the  market  in 
wine, as regards production potential (OJ L 143, 16.6.2000, p. 1.)  
OJ L 87, 24.3.2006, p. 1. 

the International Wine Office (OIV), 
the Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV), and/or  
the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR)."  

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Proposed approach: 

Having regard to:  

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the long discussions that led to the compromise at the Council, 

the recent decision of the Court of Justice, 

the international commitments and 

the change in the wine producers' practices, 

the  Commission  considers  that  the  exclusive  protection  of  the  geographical  indication 
'TOKAJ' should prevail. 

Therefore,  the  Commission  has  the  intention  to  maintain  the  deadline  of  31  March  2007  in 
Annex II, lines 103, 104 and 105 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 for the use of 
vine  variety  names  which  consist  of  or  contain  the  name  of  the  geographical  indication 
TOKAJ, even when used in translation (e.g. TOKAY or TOCAI). 

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