Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Article 42 – paragraph 3: 3. Member States shall take appropriate administrative and judicial steps to prevent or stop the use of names of products or services, including domain names, that are produced, operated or marketed physically or via the internet in their territory and that contravenes the protection of geographical indications provided for in Article 27 and Article 28.

Article 42 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. Member States shall not adopt national rules, including of a technical nature, on the use of names for products or services that are produced, operated or marketed in their territory, which do not comply with Articles 27 and 28 of this Regulation and with Articles 7 and 17 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, and which do not comply with the principle of harmonisation in the Union food law system.

Article 42 – paragraph 4: 4. The authority designated in accordance with paragraph 1 shall cooperate with the producer groups concerned and coordinate enforcement of geographical indications among relevant departments, agencies and bodies, including police, anti-counterfeiting agencies, customs, intellectual property offices, food law authorities and retail inspectors.

Article 43 – paragraph 1: 1. Sale of goods to which persons established in the Union have access, that contravenes Articles 27 and 28 of this Regulation, shall be considered illegal content within the meaning of Article 2, point (g) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council46 . / 46 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1).

Article 43 – paragraph 3: 3. Pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, any individual or entity may notify providers of hosting services of the presence of a specific content that is in breach Articles 27 and 28 of this Regulation.

Article 44 – paragraph 2: 2. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts detailing the nature and the type of the information to be exchanged and the methods for exchanging information for the purpose of controls and enforcement under this Chapter. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).

Article 44 – paragraph 4: 4. In case of a possible violation of protection conferred to a geographical indication, Member States shall take measures to facilitate the transmission, from law enforcement authorities, market surveillance authorities, public prosecutors, public authorities on domain names and judicial authorities, to the competent authorities referred in Article 39(3) of information on such possible violation.

Article 45 – title: Certificates of compliance with product specifications

Article 45 – paragraph 1: 1. A producer whose product, following the verification of compliance referred to in Article 39, is found to comply with the product specification of a geographical indication protected in accordance with this Regulation shall be entitled to an official certificate, or other proof of compliance including by digital means, of eligibility to produce the product designated by the geographical indication concerned, such as the inclusion on the list of producers provided for in Article 39(1), in respect of the production steps performed by the said producer.

Article 45 – paragraph 2: 2. The proof of compliance referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made available on request to enforcement authorities, customs or other authorities in the Union engaged in verifying the use of geographical indications on goods declared for free circulation or placed on the internal market. The producer may make the proof of compliance available to the public or to any person who requests such proof in the course of business.

Article 46: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted)

Article 47 – paragraph 1 – introductory part: 1. Where the Commission exercises any of the empowerments provided for in this Regulation to entrust tasks to EUIPO, it shall also be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 to supplement this Regulation by criteria for monitoring performance in assisting with the execution of such tasks. Such criteria shall include, at least:

Article 47 – paragraph 1 – point a: deleted

Article 47 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) quality of technical support;

Article 47 – paragraph 1 – point c: deleted

Article 47 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new): (ea) access to information on the Union register of geographical indications.

Article 47 – paragraph 2: 2. No later than two years after the first delegation of any tasks to EUIPO, the Commission shall prepare and submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the results and experience of the exercise of these tasks by EUIPO.

Article 48 – paragraph 3 – introductory part: 3. Without prejudice to the rules referred to in Article 5(2), agricultural products that are contrary to public policy and that may not be placed on the internal market shall be excluded from being the subject of a protected designation of origin or a protected geographical indication.

Article 48 – paragraph 3 – point a: deleted

Article 48 – paragraph 3 – point b: deleted

Article 48 – paragraph 5: 5. For the purposes of paragraph 1, point (b) and paragraph 2, point (b), 'characteristics' and ‘other characteristic’ may include farming practices that protect environmental value including biodiversity, habitats, nationally recognised environmental zones and landscape.

Article 48 – paragraph 6: deleted

Article 48 – paragraph 7: 7. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 concerning restrictions and derogations supplementing this Regulation with provisions regarding the slaughtering of live animals or with regard to the sourcing of raw materials. These restrictions and derogations shall, based on objective criteria, take into account quality or usage and recognised know-how or natural constraints affecting agricultural production in certain areas.

Article 50 – paragraph 2: 2. Insofar as sourcing entirely from within the defined geographical area is not practicable, feed sourced from outside that area can be added, provided that the product quality or characteristic essentially due to the geographical environment are not affected. Feed sourced from outside the defined geographical area shall not exceed 50 % of dry matter on an annual basis.

Article 50 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. In duly justified cases, Member States may grant derogations from the percentages referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 due to exceptional circumstances including adverse geopolitical, economic, geographic and climatic conditions, for a limited period of time until the possibility of sourcing from within the defined geographical area can be re-established.

Article 50 – paragraph 2 b (new): 2b. Where a Member State grants such a derogation in accordance with the paragraph 2a, it shall ensure that a dossier giving the reasons for that derogation is officially sent to the Commission and is made publicly available, subject to Union and national law on data protection.

Article 50 – paragraph 3: 3. Any additional specific provision on the origin of raw materials provided in the product specification of a product the name of which is registered as a geographical indication shall be justified with respect to the link referred to in Article 51(1), point (f) .

Article 50 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 supplementing this Regulation with provisions concerning derogations with regard to the sourcing of feed in the case of a designation of origin.

Article 51 – paragraph 1 – point e: (e) a description of the method of obtaining the product and, where appropriate, the authentic and unvarying local methods and specific practices used; as well as information concerning packaging, if the applicant group so determines and gives sufficient product-specific justification as to why the packaging must take place in the defined geographical area to safeguard quality, to ensure the origin or to ensure control, taking into account Union law, in particular that on the free movement of goods and the free provision of services;

Article 51 – paragraph 2: 2. The product specification may also include sustainability undertakings, relating to environmental, economic, social dimensions of sustainability, and undertakings relating to animal health and welfare.

Article 51 – paragraph 3: 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 supplementing this Regulation with provisions concerning rules which limit the information contained in the product specification referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, where such a limitation is necessary to avoid excessively voluminous applications for registration.

Article 52 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) the main points of the product specification, namely: the name, a description of the product, including, where appropriate, specific rules concerning packaging, labelling and commercial presentation, including on retail websites, together with a concise definition of the geographical area;

Title III – title: Other quality schemes

Article 54 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2: For the purposes of this Chapter, ‘agricultural products’ means agricultural products intended for human consumption listed in Annex I to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and other agricultural products not listed in that Annex but processed using products listed in that Annex, set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 55 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3a. The protection of the registered name shall also extend to any translation of that name into a foreign language, if the producer group so specifies in the product specification. At the request of producers who wish to use a translation, the translation shall be defined by the Member State in which those producers are established and shall be notified to the Member State that applied for the registration and to the Commission. The Commission shall publish the translation in the Union register of geographical indications.

Article 55 – paragraph 5: (5) The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 supplementing this Regulation with details clarifying the eligibility criteria laid down in this Article.

Article 56 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) the product name proposed for registration, in the appropriate language versions, or indicating that that name should also be protected in its translation into a foreign language;

Article 57 – paragraph 1: 1. Applications for the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed may only be submitted by groups of producers of products with the name to be protected. Several groups from different Member States or third countries may lodge a joint application for registration. Other interested parties, including regional or local public bodies, may help in the preparation of the application and in the related procedure.

Article 60 – paragraph 2: 2. Subject to paragraph 3, the scrutiny period shall not exceed five months from the submission of the application for registration. / That scrutiny period shall not include the period which starts on the date on which the Commission sends its observations or a request for supplementary information to the Member State, and ends on the date on which the Member State responds to the Commission in relation to such observations or to such a request. / In duly justified cases, the scrutiny period may be extended by a maximum of three months. In the event that the scrutiny period is extended or is likely to be extended, the Commission shall inform the applicant in writing of the reasons for the delay and of the date on which the scrutiny period is expected to end.

Article 60 – paragraph 3: 3. Within three months following the submission of the application for registration, the Commission may seek supplementary information from the competent authority or from the applicant.

Article 61 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall keep the Commission informed of any national administrative or judicial proceedings that may affect the registration of a traditional speciality guaranteed. In such a case, Member States may submit a reasoned request to the Commission to suspend the examination procedure for a period of 12 months which can be renewed.

Article 61 – paragraph 2: 2. The Member State shall inform the Commission without delay if the application to the Commission has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final judicial decision. In this case, the Commission shall be exempted from the obligation to meet the deadline to perform the scrutiny referred to in Article 60(2).

Article 62 – paragraph 3: (3) An opposition shall claim that the application could infringe the conditions laid down in this Chapter and give pertinent and adequate reasons. An opposition that does not contain the said claim shall be void.

Article 63 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) gives duly substantiated and pertinent reasons for the incompatibility of the proposed registration with the provisions of this Chapter; or

Article 68 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) where the product specification is not complied with;

Article 69 – paragraph 4: (4) The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 84 laying down additional rules to detail the protection of traditional specialities guaranteed.

Article 72 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Member States shall draw up a list of producers of guaranteed traditional specialities that are entered in the Union register of geographical indications. Member States may publish the list, for instance on the internet;