(1)

On 17 March 2008, the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 242/2008 (1) concluding the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the European Community (2) (the ‘Agreement’).

(2)

The last Protocol to the Agreement expired on 30 June 2018.

(3)

The Commission has negotiated, on behalf of the European Union, a new Protocol implementing the Agreement (the ‘Protocol’). The Protocol was initialled on 16 March 2018.

(4)

In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2018/1069 (3), the Protocol was signed on 1 August 2018, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

(5)

The fishing opportunities should be allocated among the Member States for the full duration of application of the Protocol.

(6)

Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) provides that during a specific year or any other relevant period of the implementation of a protocol to a Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement and taking into account the validity periods of the fishing authorisations, the Member States should be informed of any reallocation of the unused fishing opportunities.

(7)

The Protocol will apply on a provisional basis from its date of signature, in order to ensure an expeditious start to fishing activities of Union vessels. This Regulation should therefore also apply from the same date,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 5 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 (2), operators have the possibility to indicate different optional indications in the labelling of olive oils and olive-pomace oils, under certain specific conditions. In particular, the acidity may appear on the label provided that certain physicochemical parameters (peroxide value, waxes content and ultraviolet absorption) are also indicated. With a view not to mislead consumers, where indicated on the labelling, the value of physicochemical parameters should be the maximum value such parameters could reach by the date of minimum durability.

(2)

The indication of the harvesting year in the label of extra virgin and virgin olive oils is optional for the operators when 100 % of the contents of the container come from one single harvesting year. Since the olive harvest usually begins in late autumn and ends by spring in the following year, it is appropriate to clarify how to label the harvesting year.

(3)

In order to provide additional information on the age of an olive oil to consumers, Member States should be allowed to make the indication of the harvesting year compulsory. However, with a view not to disturb the functioning of the single market, such compulsory indication should be limited to their domestic production, obtained from olives harvested in their territory and intended for their national markets only. By analogy with the transitional period provided for in relation to Article 5 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012, Member States should allow olive oils already labelled to be marketed until the stocks are exhausted. In order to enable the Commission to monitor the application of such national decision and to review the Union provision underlying it, in the light of any relevant evolution in the functioning of the single market, Member States should notify their decision in accordance with Article 45 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

(4)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

In order to respect legitimate expectations of operators, a transitional period should be provided for products labelled in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) No 29/2012 before the date of application provided for in this Regulation,

(1)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2197 (2) sets the amounts made available to the Member States for reimbursement to the final recipients in financial year 2018. Those amounts correspond to the financial discipline reduction actually applied by the Member States in financial year 2017 on the basis of the Member States' declarations of expenditure for the period from 16 October 2016 to 15 October 2017.

(2)

In respect of Romania, the detailed declaration of expenditure did not fully take into account the threshold of EUR 2 000 that applies to financial discipline in accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). Therefore, with a view to sound financial management, in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2197 no amount was made available to Romania for reimbursement.

(3)

Romania has subsequently informed the Commission about the correct amount of financial discipline which should have been applied in Romania in financial year 2017 when fully taking into account the threshold of EUR 2 000. In order to ensure that the reimbursement of the relevant amounts to Romanian farmers can take place, the Commission should determine the corresponding amount that is made available to Romania.

(4)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2197 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

As the amendment made by this Regulation affects the application of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2197, which applies from 1 December 2017, this Regulation should also apply from that day,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Member States had to submit to the Commission a technical file for each established geographical indication registered in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 not later than 20 February 2015. Following the scrutiny of these technical files pursuant to Article 9 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 716/2013 (2), several geographical indications listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 have to be amended or corrected.

(2)

France submitted one technical file for the geographical indication ‘Eau-de-vie de Cognac/Eau-de-vie des Charentes/Cognac’. These names are listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, product category 4 ‘Wine spirit’, as three distinct geographical indications: ‘Eau-de-vie de Cognac’, ‘Eau-de-vie des Charentes’ and ‘Cognac’. Following France's request it is necessary to amend Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 and list these three names as referring to only one product as one single technical file has been submitted with reference to them.

(3)

In addition, France submitted five technical files for the following geographical indications: ‘Eau-de-vie de Faugères’, ‘Marc du Bugey’, ‘Marc de Savoie’, ‘Marc de Provence’, ‘Marc du Languedoc’. These technical files do not refer to the respective names ‘Faugères’, ‘Eau-de-vie de marc originaire de Bugey’, ‘Eau-de-vie de marc originaire de Savoie’, ‘Eau-de-vie de marc originaire de Provence’ and ‘Eau-de-vie de marc originaire du Languedoc’, which are equally listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, product categories 4 ‘Wine spirit’ and 6 ‘Grape marc spirit’, as alternative names to the five geographical indications for which the technical files have been submitted. In accordance with Article 20(3) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, the established geographical indications for which no technical file was submitted to the Commission by 20 February 2015 should be removed from Annex III to that Regulation. In consequence, these alternative names should be removed from that Annex III.

(4)

Greece submitted one technical file for the geographical indication ‘Τσικουδιά/Tsikoudia/Τσίπουρο/Tsipouro’. These names are listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, product category 6 ‘Grape marc spirit’, as two distinct geographical indications: ‘Τσικουδιά/Tsikoudia’ and ‘Τσίπουρο/Tsipouro’. It is therefore necessary to amend Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 and list these names as referring to only one product as one single technical file has been submitted with reference to them.

(5)

The geographical indication ‘Grappa lombarda/Grappa di Lombardia’ is registered in product category 6 ‘Grape marc spirit’ of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. Due to a grammatical mistake it is necessary to correct the name of the geographical indication to ‘Grappa lombarda/Grappa della Lombardia’.

(6)

The geographical indication ‘Marc d'Alsace Gewürztraminer’ is registered in product category 6 ‘Grape marc spirit’ of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. French classification of the wine grape varieties pursuant to Article 81 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) includes the name of the wine grape variety ‘Gewurztraminer’ and not ‘Gewürztraminer’. Consequently, the name of this geographical indication has to be corrected to ‘Marc d'Alsace Gewurztraminer’.

(7)

The geographical indication ‘Genièvre Flandres Artois’ is registered in product category 19 ‘Juniper-flavoured spirit drinks’ of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. A spelling mistake has been detected in the registered name and consequently, the name of this geographical indication has to be corrected to ‘Genièvre Flandre Artois’.

(8)

The geographical indication ‘Génépi des Alpes/Genepì degli Alpi’ is registered in product category 32 ‘Liqueur’ of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. Due to a grammatical mistake it is necessary to correct the name of the geographical indication to ‘Génépi des Alpes/Genepì delle Alpi’.

(9)

The geographical indication ‘Irish Poteen/Irish Poitín’ is registered in product category ‘Other spirit drinks’ of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 as originating in Ireland. It is necessary to clarify that such geographical indication also covers the corresponding product manufactured in Northern Ireland.

(10)

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

(11)

To enable operators to use labels printed in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 as it stood before being amended and corrected by this Regulation, the marketing of existing stocks should be authorised.

(12)

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

(1)

Directive 2003/85/EC sets out the minimum control measures to be applied in the event of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and certain preventive measures aimed at increasing the awareness and preparedness of the competent authorities and the farming community concerning that disease.

(2)

The preventive measures set out in Directive 2003/85/EC include the requirement that the handling of live foot-and-mouth disease virus for research, diagnosis or vaccine manufacturing is carried out only in approved laboratories listed in Annex XI to that Directive.

(3)

Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC lists the national laboratories authorised to handle live foot-and-mouth disease virus for research and diagnostic purposes. Part B of that Annex lists the laboratories authorised to handle live foot-and mouth disease virus for vaccine production and related research.

The Netherlands has submitted a request to the Commission to change the name of its national laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease listed in Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC to ‘Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR), Lelystad’, due to organisational changes.

Belgium has also submitted a request to the Commission to change the name of its national laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease listed in Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC. The Belgian national laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease, the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre (CODA-CERVA), has now become part of the new Belgian federal research centre, Sciensano, following a merge of the CODA-CERVA and the Scientific Institute of Public Health (WIV-ISP), which took effect on 1 April 2018. Sciensano has taken over all the rights and duties of its predecessors, including those of the CODA-CERVA.

Greece has submitted a request to the Commission to complete the name of its national laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease listed in Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC, which is also responsible for the diagnosis of rickettsial infections.

(4)

The Pirbright Institute, which is located in the United Kingdom, provides the services of a national reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease to Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and it is duly listed as such in Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC. As a consequence of the United Kingdom's notification in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom will no longer be a Member State of the European Union as of 30 March 2019. In accordance with Article 68(2), the Pirbright Institute may no longer provide the services of a national reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease to Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden after the date of 29 March 2019.

(5)

For the reasons of legal certainty, it is important to keep the list of national laboratories for foot-and-mouth disease set out in Part A of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC updated. Therefore, it is necessary to amend the name of the respective national laboratories in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in Greece and to indicate the date of withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union as the date until which the Pirbright Institute may provide the services of a national reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease to other Member States and until which other Member State may use the services of the Pirbright institute as a national reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease.

(6)

Following organisational changes affecting the laboratory authorised to handle live foot-and-mouth disease virus for vaccine production listed in Part B of Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC, the Netherlands has submitted a request to the Commission to change the name of that laboratory situated on its territory to ‘Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Netherlands BV’.

(7)

Annex XI to Directive 2003/85/EC should therefore be replaced accordingly.

(8)

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/136 (2) designated the consortium ANSES & CODA-CERVA set up by the Laboratory for Animal Health of the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), Maisons-Alfort, France, and the Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre (CODA-CERVA), Uccle, Belgium, as the European Union reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease. It is necessary to amend that Implementing Decision, so that it refers to Sciensano, instead of CODA-CERVA. Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/136 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,