(1)

The Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Alcoholes y Licores, a Guatemalan body established in accordance with Guatemalan law, applied for the registration of ‘Ron de Guatemala’ as a geographical indication in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17(1) of that Regulation. ‘Ron de Guatemala’ is rum that is traditionally produced in Guatemala.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 17(6) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, the main specifications of the technical file for ‘Ron de Guatemala’ were published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2) for the purposes of the objection procedure.

(3)

In accordance with Article 17(7) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, France and several French producers of rum submitted objections to the registration of ‘Ron de Guatemala’ as a geographical indication on the grounds that the specifications of the product and the definition of rum under Guatemalan law, which the technical file refers to, would not be in line with the definition of rum under category 1 of Annex II to that Regulation and with the other requirements of that Regulation, mainly as regards the prohibition to use flavourings, colorants and sweeteners for the production of rum, the rules on the raw materials to be used, on the quality of the water to be added and on the indication of the ageing in the description, presentation or labelling of the product.

(4)

The application for the registration of ‘Ron de Guatemala’ includes a detailed description of the product, which is in line with the definition of rum under category 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 and the other requirements of that Regulation. This description shows that the rules concerning production which apply to ‘Ron de Guatemala’ are stricter than those applying to the standard rum produced in that country.

(5)

The application for the registration of ‘Ron de Guatemala’ as a geographical indication satisfies the conditions laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. The Commission considers that, according to the specifications of the technical file, the product complies with the relevant requirements of Union law.

(6)

In the light of the above, the Commission has considered that the grounds provided in the oppositions to the registration of the geographical indication ‘Ron de Guatemala’ in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, concerning the non-fulfilment of the conditions provided in the said Regulation, are not founded.

(7)

The name ‘Ron de Guatemala’ should be registered as a geographical indication in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Spirit Drinks,

(1)

Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 provides for the possibility to use the term ‘dry’ for the category of spirit drink ‘London gin’. That spirit drink is not allowed to contain added sweetening exceeding 0,1 gram of sugars per litre. For the categories of spirit drinks ‘gin’ and ‘distilled gin’ there is no established limit for the addition of sweetening. However, when ‘gin’ and ‘distilled gin’ are produced without sugar or with a sugar content not exceeding 0,1 gram per litre, the possibility to use the term ‘dry’ should be extended to those spirit drinks as defined in that Annex.

(2)

Hungary has applied for the registration of ‘Újfehértói meggypálinka’ as a geographical indication in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 17(1) of that Regulation. ‘Újfehértói meggypálinka’ is a fruit spirit traditionally produced in Hungary, exclusively from the sour cherry varieties ‘Újfehértói fürtös’ and ‘Debreceni bőtermő’. The main specifications of the technical file for ‘Újfehértói meggypálinka’ were published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2) for the purposes of the objection procedure, pursuant to Article 17(6) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. As the Commission did not receive any objections in accordance with Article 17(7) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, the name ‘Újfehértói meggypálinka’ should be registered as a geographical indication in Annex III to that Regulation.

(3)

The geographical indications ‘Polska Wódka/Polish Vodka’ and ‘Originali lietuviška degtinė/Original Lithuanian vodka’ are registered for product category 15, ‘Vodka’, of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. However, the technical specifications for those geographical indications also cover flavoured vodka. Therefore, those geographical indications should also be included in product category 31, ‘Flavoured vodka’, of that Annex. In order to inform the consumer of the true nature of the product, the label of that type of vodka should bear the sales denomination ‘flavoured vodka’ or ‘vodka’ with the predominant flavour.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

To facilitate the transition from the rules provided for in Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 to those set out in this Regulation, the marketing of existing stocks should be foreseen until they run out and the use of labels printed before the date of entry into force of this Regulation should be allowed until 31 December 2015.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Spirit Drinks,

(1)

Annex II is amended as follows:

(2)

Annex III is amended as follows:

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

Decision ECB/2010/21 (1) lays down the rules for drawing up the annual accounts of the European Central Bank (ECB).

(2)

Article 24 of Decision ECB/2010/21 stipulates that if a specific accounting treatment is not laid down in Decision ECB/2010/21 and in the absence of a decision to the contrary of the Governing Council, the ECB shall follow valuation principles in accordance with the International Accounting Standards (IAS) as adopted by the European Union, which are relevant to the ECB’s activities and accounts.

(3)

The ECB applies IAS 19 Employee Benefits for recognising actuarial gains and losses of post-employment benefits under the ‘corridor’ approach.

(4)

IAS 19 was revised and is effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013. Under the revised IAS 19, the ‘corridor’ approach has been eliminated.

(5)

Annex I to Decision ECB/2010/21 should be amended to provide for the reporting of remeasurement results of the net defined benefit liability (asset) in respect of post-employment benefits on the liability side of the ECB’s balance sheet under item 14 ‘Revaluation accounts’.

(6)

Decision ECB/2010/21 should therefore be amended accordingly,