Request for Union amendments
1. A request for Union amendments to a product specification as referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, shall contain:
(a)
the protected name to which the amendment relates;
(b)
the name of the Member State or the third country to which the geographical area belongs;
(c)
an indication whether it is the applicant in accordance with Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 as provided for in the Union register or a producer using the geographical indication in accordance with Article 47(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 requesting the Union amendment;
(d)
the headings in the product specification and in the single document affected by the amendment;
(e)
the reasons as to why the amendment falls under Article 31(3) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411;
(f)
a description of and the reasons for, each of the amendments requested;
(g)
an indication of any standard amendments inextricably linked to the Union amendments;
(h)
the consolidated single document, as amended;
(i)
for requests under Article 21, point (a) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, the electronic reference to the publication of the consolidated product specification as amended;
(j)
for requests under Article 21, point (b) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, the consolidated product specification, as amended;
(k)
for requests under Article 21, point (c) Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, proof that the requested amendment complies with the laws on protection of geographical indications in force in the relevant third country;
(l)
the declaration by the competent authority of the Member State that it considers that the request meets the requirements set out in Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
2. The Office shall receive separately and shall not publish as part of the application:
(a)
the name and contact details of the competent authority of the Member State or, of the applicant or of the competent authority of the third country, which requested in the Union phase of the procedure the approval of a Union amendment of the product specification;
(b)
the name and contact details of the applicant, which requested the national phase of the procedure for approval of a Union amendment of the product specification, indicating whether it is a producer group;
(c)
any accompanying documentation, as appropriate.
3. A request for a Union amendment to the product specification and the amended single document shall be drawn up in accordance with the form made available online by the Office and submitted to the Office using the digital system.
4. The competent authority of the Member States, in the case of direct registrations, the applicant, and in the case of third-country requests, the applicant or the competent authority of the third country, as applicable, shall ensure consistency between the request for approval of a Union amendment and the consolidated product specification and that there is no substantial divergence between them. The amendments listed in the request for approval of a Union amendment shall correspond to the amendments made to the product specification. Where an inconsistency is found after the approval of a Union amendment, in the standard procedure, the competent authority of the Member State, in the case of direct registrations, the applicant, and in the case of third-country applications, the applicant or the competent authority of the third country, as applicable, shall take the necessary measures to remedy that inconsistency.
5. A request for a Union amendment shall be concise and not exceed 5 000 words, including a single document, except in duly justified cases.
6. For the purposes of Article 31(2) of this Regulation, in addition to the documents and information referred thereto, as amended, the Office shall publish in the Union register the request for a Union amendment to the product specification.
7. Article 4, Articles 6-17 and Articles 27-28 of this Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to the request for Union amendment to the product specification.
8. This Article shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to requests for standard amendments to the product specification registered pursuant to Article 21, point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
Standard amendments to product specification
1. Requests for approval of a standard amendment to the product specification shall be submitted to the competent authority of the Member State in whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located.
2. The competent authority of the Member States may provide that the request for standard amendment is published for opposition at national level. If national opposition is not provided for, and if the request for approval of a standard amendment to the product specification does not come from the applicant that had submitted the application for protection of the name or names to which the product specification refers, the competent authority of the Member State shall give that applicant the opportunity to comment on the request.
3. The request for approval of a standard amendment shall provide a description of the standard amendments, a summary of the reasons for which the amendments are required and the reasons for which the proposed amendments qualify as standard in accordance with Article 31(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
4. Where the competent authority of the Member State considers that the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 and the provisions adopted pursuant to that Regulation are met, it may approve the standard amendment. The approval decision shall include, where relevant, the amended consolidated product specification and, where relevant, the amended consolidated single document.
5. The approval decision shall be made public by the competent authority of the Member State concerned. The approved standard amendment shall be applicable in the Member State following the applicable national rules for entry into force.
6. In case the standard amendment requires an amendment of the single document, the Office shall make public in the Union register within three months after the date on which it received the communication of a standard amendment:
(a)
the description of the standard amendment; and
(b)
the amended single document.
7. In case the standard amendment does not require an amendment of the single document, the Office shall make public in the Union register, in the language as received, the description of the standard amendment, within three months after the date on which it has received the communication of that standard amendment.
8. Standard amendments shall be applicable in the territory of the Union from the date on which they have been made public pursuant to paragraphs 6 and 7, as applicable.
9. Where the geographical area covers more than one Member State, the competent authority of each Member State concerned shall apply the procedure for standard amendments separately. The competent authorities of the relevant Member States shall notify each other about the national approval decision and, upon request, give update to each other about the progress of the national procedure. The standard amendment shall be applicable in the territory of the Member States concerned only after the last national approval decision becomes applicable. The competent authority of the Member State that is the last to approve the standard amendment shall send the Office the relevant communication not later than one month following the date on which its approval decision was made public.
10. Where the geographical area covers more than one Member State, if one or more of the competent authorities of the Member States concerned refuse the request for a standard amendment or do not take any action to adopt the national approval decision for the adoption of standard amendments by the respective Member State or Member States, the competent authorities of any of the Member States concerned by the cross-border geographical area, may submit that request under the Union amendment procedure for the Office to take a decision. In this case the competent authority of the Member State that submitted the request for approval of the Union amendment shall demonstrate that the standard amendment procedure failed to conclude in one or more Member States where the geographical indication originates. The related Union opposition procedure shall be open for Member States and the natural and legal persons resident or established in those Member States, except for the Member State that submitted the request for approval of the Union amendment and the natural and legal persons resident or established in that Member State.
11. Paragraphs 9 and 10 shall apply mutatis mutandis where a part of the geographical area concerned is located in the territory of a third country. Nevertheless, when the standard amendment concerns the territory of a Member State and a third country, the obligation to send the Office the communication remains in the Member State.
Relationship between Union and standard amendments
1. Where a standard amendment requiring an amendment of the single document is approved while a request for approval of a Union amendment is pending, the competent authority of the Member State concerned shall update the single document included in the request for approval of a Union amendment accordingly.
2. If the pending Union amendment has been published in the Union register, for opposition, the updated version of the single document shall also be published in the Union register as an annex to the decision approving the Union amendment.
3. Where the amended version of the single document included in a standard amendment application approved at national level does not take into account the latest Union amendments that have been approved, that amended version shall not be made public by the Office. The competent authority of the Member State that had approved that standard amendment shall send to the Office the consolidated version of the single document as amended by both the Union and the standard amendments for publication in the Union register.
4. This article applies mutatis mutandis also to applications submitted under Article 21, point (c), of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
Standard amendments linked to Union amendments
A standard amendment included in an application for Union amendment that is inextricably linked to the pending Union amendment shall be considered as part of that Union amendment and shall be approved by the Office together with the Union amendment under the same procedure.
Temporary amendments to product specifications
1. Temporary amendments to product specifications shall be approved and made public by the competent authority of the Member State in whose territory the defined geographical area of the name concerned is located. Temporary amendments may concern a part of the geographical area.
2. Temporary amendments shall be communicated to the Office not later than one month following the date on which the national approval decision was made public. That communication shall indicate the reasons for the temporary amendments.
3. The temporary amendment shall be applicable in the Member State according to the applicable national rules.
4. Each temporary amendment shall apply for a limited period of time set out by the competent authority approving such amendment. It may only be renewed if the exceptional circumstances, referred to in Article 31(6) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, and if reasons for which it had been approved still exist. A renewal of temporary amendments shall be communicated to the Office following the procedure provided for the communication of temporary amendments referred to in Article 24.
5. Where the geographical area covers more than one Member State, the procedure for temporary amendments shall apply separately in the Member States concerned for the part of the area which falls within their respective territory.
6. Temporary amendments concerning geographical indications originating in third countries shall be communicated to the Office not later than one month following their approval. That communication shall indicate the reasons for the temporary amendments.
7. The Office shall make public the communication of temporary amendment via its digital system within three months after the date on which it has received the communication of that temporary amendment, in the language as received. A temporary amendment shall be applicable in the territory of the Union from the date on which it was made public by the Office.
8. This Article does not apply to procedures referred to in Article 21, point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
Communications of standard amendments
1. The communication of an approved standard amendment to the product specification shall contain:
(a)
the protected name to which the standard amendment relates;
(b)
the Member State or third country to which the geographical area belongs;
(c)
the name of the Member State or third country communicating the standard amendment to the product specification to the Office;
(d)
the reasons as to why the amendment falls under Article 31(2), point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411;
(e)
a description of the approved amendment, indicating whether the amendment leads to an amendment of the single document;
(f)
the decision approving the standard amendment as referred to in Article 31(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411;
(g)
where relevant, the consolidated single document, as amended;
(h)
the electronic reference to the publication of the consolidated product specification, as amended.
2. Where the communication is made by the competent authority of a Member State, it shall include a declaration referred to in Article 22(1), point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
3. In the case of third-country requests, the communication, in addition to information listed in paragraph 1, shall include proof that the amendment is applicable in the third country. It shall include the product specification as made public instead of the electronic reference to the publication thereto.
4. A communication of an approved standard amendment shall be drawn up in accordance with the form made available online by the Office and submitted to the Office using the digital system.
5. The contact details of the competent authorities of the Member State or third country communicating the standard amendment to the Office, shall be communicated separately. The contact details of the competent authorities shall not be published as part of the communication. Their names, however, shall be published.
6. The competent authority of the Member State shall communicate, without undue delay, to the Office:
(a)
any final national judgments annulling a decision approving a standard amendment;
(b)
the amended consolidated single document, including an electronic reference to the product specification, or in the case of an amendment not modifying the single document, only the latter, updated following the annulment of that standard amendment.
7. The Office shall publish in the Union register information that the national decision approving the standard amendment has been annulled. This information shall be accompanied by an updated version of the single document, published in all official Union languages, as communicated by the competent authority of the Member State in accordance with paragraph 6, point (b) of this Article.
8. Decisions approving standard amendments concerning products originating in third countries shall be communicated to the Office by the competent authority of the third country concerned, not later than 1 month following the date on which the relevant decision was made public.
9. The communication of an approved standard amendment to the product specification to the Office shall be considered duly made when it complies with this Article. The Office shall not publish a communication of approval of a standard amendment which has not been duly made in accordance with this Article. The Office shall inform the competent authority and the applicant, where applicable, that the communication of the standard amendment is not duly made within 3 months. Where no response has been received within 2 months from the date of receipt of the letter of the Office, the incorrectly made communication shall be deemed as not filed.
10. The competent authority that communicated a standard amendment to product specification to the Office shall remain responsible for its content.
11. This Article does not apply to procedures referred to in Article 21, point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
Communication of temporary amendments
1. The communication of an approved temporary amendment to the product specification shall contain:
(a)
the reference to the protected name to which it relates;
(b)
the name of the Member State or third country communicating the temporary amendment to the Office;
(c)
a description of the approved temporary amendment together with the reasons supporting it;
(d)
decision of the authorities formally recognising a natural disaster or adverse weather conditions, or a man-made disaster, such as a war, a threat of war or a terrorist attack, or, when applicable, the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures;
(e)
the decision approving the temporary amendment or the electronic publication reference.
2. Where the communication is made by the competent authority of a Member State, it shall include a declaration referred to in Article 22(1), point (c) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
3. In the case of geographical indications originating in third countries, the communication shall include proof that the amendment is applicable in the third country. It shall include the national decision approving the temporary amendment as made public instead of the electronic reference to the publication reference thereto.
4. A communication of an approved temporary amendment shall be drawn up in accordance with the form made available online by the Office and submitted to the Office using the digital system.
5. The contact details of the competent authorities of the Member State or third country, shall be communicated separately. The contact details of the competent authorities shall not be published as part of the communication. Their names, however, shall be published.
6. The communication of an approved temporary amendment to the Office shall be considered duly made when it complies with this Article. The Office shall not publish a communication of approval of a temporary amendment which has not been duly made in accordance with this Article. The Office shall inform the competent authority and the applicant, where applicable, that the communication of the temporary amendment is not duly made within 3 months. Where no response has been received within 2 months from the date of receipt of the letter of the Office, the incorrectly made communication shall be deemed as not filed.
7. The competent authority that communicated the content to the Office, shall remain responsible for its content.
8. This Article does not apply to procedures referred to in Article 21, point (b) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
