(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.

(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 agree on sustainability undertakings, helping to achieve environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability objectives. Such specific undertakings could be set out in the product specification.

1.

Environmental objectives, including inter alia:

2.

Economic objectives, including inter alia:

3.

Socio-cultural objectives, including inter alia:

(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.

(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), with regard to its area of competence in intellectual property matters. The involvement of EUIPO must not lead to extra procedures or to such procedures taking longer . 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.

(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; 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.

(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 clarifying or adding items to be supplied as part of accompanying information; entrusting the EUIPO with the tasks related to operation of the register, publication of standard amendments to a product specification, 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; 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; 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.

(g)

‘generic terms’ means:

(g)

‘generic terms’ means:

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;

(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;

(a)

producers acting collectively have the necessary powers and responsibilities to manage their geographical indication, including to create value and 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;

(b)

fair competition for producers in the marketing chain;

(c)

consumers should receive reliable information and a guarantee of authenticity for such products and should be able to easily identify them in the marketplace including in e-commerce;

(c)

consumers should receive reliable information and a guarantee of authenticity for such products and should be able to easily identify them in the marketplace including in the domain name system and in e-commerce;

(d)

efficient registration of geographical indications taking into account the appropriate protection of intellectual property rights; and

(d)

efficient registration of geographical indications taking into account the appropriate protection of intellectual property rights in the EU’s single market and digital market ;

(e)

effective enforcement and marketing throughout the Union and in electronic commerce ensuring the integrity of the internal market.

(e)

effective enforcement and marketing throughout the Union, as well as in the domain name system and in electronic commerce ensuring the integrity of the internal market;

(f)

the added value associated with products with a geographical indication is shared throughout the value chain so that producers can stabilise their prices and invest in the quality and reputation of their products.

(a)

any direct or indirect commercial use of the geographical indication in respect of products not covered by the registration, where those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or where use of a name exploits, weakens, dilutes, or is detrimental to the reputation of, the protected name;

(a)

any direct or indirect commercial use of the geographical indication in respect of products not covered by the registration, where those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or where use of a name exploits, weakens, dilutes, or is detrimental to the reputation of, the protected name , including when these products are used as ingredients ;

(b)

any misuse, imitation or evocation, even if the true origin of the products or services is indicated or if the protected name is translated or accompanied by an expression such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’, ‘flavour’, ‘like’ or similar.

(b)

any misuse, imitation or evocation, even if Member States or public authorities are involved and even if the true origin of the products or services is indicated or if the protected name is translated , transcribed or transliterated or accompanied by an expression such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’, ‘flavour’, ‘like’ or similar, including when these products are used as ingredients;

(c)

any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities of the product that is used on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material, documents or information provided on websites relating to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin;

(c)

any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities of the product that is used on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material, documents or information provided on websites or on domain names relating to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin;

(a)

develop the product specification and manage internal controls that ensure compliance of production steps of the product designated by the geographical indication with the said specification;

(a)

develop the product specification and manage the activities that ensure compliance of production steps of the product designated by the geographical indication with the said specification;

(b)

take legal action to ensure protection of the geographical indication and of the intellectual property rights that are directly connected with it;

(b)

take legal action to ensure protection of the geographical indication and of the intellectual property rights that are directly connected with it;

(c)

agree sustainability undertakings, whether or not included in the product specification or as a separate initiative, including arrangements for verification of compliance with those undertakings and assuring adequate publicity for them notably in an information system provided by the Commission;

(c)

agree sustainability undertakings, whether or not included in the product specification or as a separate initiative, including arrangements for verification of compliance with those undertakings and assuring adequate publicity for them notably in an information system provided by the Commission;

(d)

share best practices and raise awareness among producers of sustainability undertakings, as defined in Article 12. That could include, among other things, sending information on the financial aid available, developing tools and action plans;

(d)

take action to improve the performance of the geographical indication, including:

(e)

take action to improve the performance of the geographical indication, including:

(e)

combat counterfeiting and suspected fraudulent uses on the internal market of a geographical indication designating products that are not in compliance with the product specification, by monitoring the use of the geographical indication across the internal market and on third countries markets where the geographical indications are protected, including on the internet, and, as necessary, inform enforcement authorities using confidential systems available.

(f)

combat counterfeiting and suspected fraudulent uses on the internal market of a geographical indication designating products that are not in compliance with the product specification, by monitoring the use of the geographical indication across the internal market and on third countries markets where the geographical indications are protected, including on the internet, and, as necessary, inform enforcement authorities using confidential systems available.

(g)

take measures to enhance the value of products and, where necessary, take steps to prevent or counter any measures which are, or risk being, detrimental to the image of those products.

(a)

it has a minimum number of members and/or covers a minimum volume or value of marketable production, to be laid down by the Member State concerned, in the area where it operates. Such provisions shall not prevent the recognition of producer groups which are dedicated to small-scale production; (aa) it does not weaken possible other existing geographical indications or designations of origin;

(b)

it provides sufficient evidence that it can carry out its activities, both over time and in terms of efficiency, with regard to providing human, material and technical support to its members;

(c)

it exercises its powers and responsibilities in accordance with the criteria of fair and balanced representation of the categories of operators involved in the production process that are established, or to be established, by the Member State concerned, in order to avoid exclusion and allow for the democratic governance of the recognised group.

(a)

to liaise with intellectual property enforcement and anti-counterfeit bodies and participate in intellectual property enforcement networks as the geographical indication right holder;

(a)

to liaise with intellectual property enforcement and anti-counterfeit bodies and participate in intellectual property enforcement networks as the geographical indication right holder;

(b)

to take enforcement actions, including filing applications for actions with custom authorities, to prevent or counter any measures which are, or risk being, detrimental to the image of their products;

(b)

to take enforcement actions, including filing applications for actions with custom authorities, to prevent or counter any measures which are, or risk being, detrimental to the image of their products;

(c)

to recommend to the national authorities binding rules to be adopted in accordance with Article 166a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the regulation of the supply of products designated by a geographical indication;

(c)

to recommend to the national authorities binding rules to be adopted in accordance with Article 166a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 for the regulation of the supply of products designated by a geographical indication;

(d)

with a view to protecting the geographical indication in the internet domain name systems outside the jurisdiction of the Union, to register an individual, collective or certification trade mark depending on the trade mark system concerned, containing, as one of its prominent elements, a geographical indication and restricted to products conforming to the corresponding product specification.

(d)

with a view to protecting the geographical indication in the internet domain name systems outside the jurisdiction of the Union, to register an individual, collective or certification trade mark depending on the trade mark system concerned, containing, as one of its prominent elements, a geographical indication and restricted to products conforming to the corresponding product specification;

(e)

to establish standard value-sharing clauses within the meaning of Article 172a of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, including market premiums and losses, by determining any changes in the relevant market prices of the products concerned or of other goods;

(f)

to lay down rules concerning the use of their GI product as an ingredient, in particular: i) to establish minimum conditions for the use of their GI product as an ingredient; ii) to request a financial contribution or reimbursement from the processor using the GI as an ingredient; iii) to carry out monitoring and supervision activities throughout the EU single market;

(g)

to be consulted by the European Commission in the context of negotiations on international trade agreements as regards the protection of their names.

(a)

assistance on intellectual property aspects in the scrutiny of applications as part of procedures for registering and amending geographical indications, as well as opposition procedures;

(b)

publication of standard amendments for a product specification;

(c)

protection of geographical indications, including on the internet;

(d)

operation of the GI register;

(e)

establishment and management of an alert system informing applicants of the availability of their geographical indication as a domain name.

(a)

the extent of integration of agricultural factors in the scrutiny process;

(a)

quality of assessments;

(b)

quality of assessments;

(b)

coherence of assessments of geographical indications from different sources;

(c)

coherence of assessments of geographical indications from different sources;

(c)

efficiency of tasks;

(d)

efficiency of tasks; and

(d)

reducing processing time for the scrutiny of applications; and

(e)

user satisfaction.

(e)

user satisfaction.

(a)

products that by their nature cannot be traded within the internal market and can only be consumed in or near their place of manufacture, such as restaurants;

(b)

products that, without prejudice to the rules referred to in Article 5(2), are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality and may not be placed on the internal market.