Gathering of further information and consultation of the advisory panel
1. The initiating Member State or the Commission may request further information from the manufacturer or importer concerned, to be provided within a time limit to be specified in the request. It may also request information from other sources, exchange information with other Member States and, where applicable, the Commission and consult the independent advisory panel (hereafter the ‘panel’) established pursuant to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/786 ( 2 ) .
2. Where the panel is consulted, it shall submit its opinion within the time-frame applicable under Article 10(6) of Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/786.
Right for manufacturers and importers to submit observations
1. Where, on the basis of Article 6(2), the initiating Member State or the Commission has carried out further investigation under Article 7, and where having due regard to information obtained from that investigation, the initiating Member State or the Commission considers that a product has a characterising flavour it shall, before adopting a decision, provide the manufacturer or importer with an opportunity to submit written observations.
The Member State or the Commission shall provide the manufacturer or importer with a summary of the grounds upon which the proposed decision is to be adopted. Where the panel was consulted, its opinion shall be made available to the manufacturer or importer. The manufacturer or importer shall have four weeks to submit its observations. That time limit may be extended by agreement with the initiating Member State or the Commission as applicable. In its observations the manufacturer shall also indicate, where applicable, whether its parent company has been consulted. The importer shall indicate whether the manufacturer has been consulted.
2. Where the initiating Member State or the Commission deems it necessary to gather additional information after receipt of the observations from the manufacturer or importer, it shall provide the manufacturer or importer with the additional information gathered and shall give it the opportunity to submit additional written observations.
