Yesterday, April 23, 20024, the OJEU published the Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and the Council amending the regime relating to geographical indications in the European Union.
This regulation repeals the Regulation (EU) 1151/2012 on the quality of agricultural and food products that regulated geographical indications (Protected Designation of Origin -DOP- and Protected Geographical Indication -PGI-) and guaranteed traditional specialties (TSG), as well as the use of certain optional quality terms and replaced by the new regulation. Likewise, it partially modifies the regimes of the regulations (EU) of the quality figures of wines (Regulation 1308 / 2013) and spirits (Regulation 2019 / 1753).
Its publication represents a crucial point in the updating and expansion of the scope of protection of quality figures that recently represented the Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October regarding the protection of geographical indications of artisanal products, which introduced for the first time a GI protection regime for these products at the European Union level and modified the Regulations (EU) 2017/1001 y (EU) 2019/1753.
Among the novelties of the regulation approved yesterday, in line with current trends in Intellectual and Industrial Property and other branches that regulate production and commerce, is the presence and relevance of the sustainability of these figures in all their aspects (environmental , social and economic), although from a regime based on voluntariness.
Other very notable aspects are their contribution to better protection and explicit legal protection of them against domain names and on the Internet, something that has been constantly demanded in recent years given the discriminatory and inferior situation in which they exist. GIs were found in this area in some of the most important domain name dispute resolution systems and other environments, particularly when compared to trademarks.
Likewise, it regulates the conditions under which the mention of a geographical indication can be used commercially when an ingredient is used in the labeling of the product, which were points where in practice it tended to generate ambiguity and confusion in consumers about whether the product benefited from the geographical indication or what specifically benefited from that geographical indication.
The obligation to mention the producer on labeling, the use of personal data in applications and the role of producer groups as GI management entities are also regulated.
According to sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Spain is the third EU State in number of quality figures (DOP, PGI and ETG), with 381 registered in the EU registry, only behind Italy, with 890 figures, and France, with 769. The 381 Spanish figures are distributed in 146 wines, 212 agri-food products - there we can find cheese; meats and the like; fish; fruits, vegetables and legumes; olive oil and vinegar; sweets such as Polvorones, Nougat or Alfajores, among others; honey, etc. -, 19 spirit drinks and 4 Traditional Specialties Guaranteed (TSG), with another 25 figures currently in the registration process with the European Commission.
According to the latest available data, in Spain more than 330.000 farmers and ranchers produce products with quality seals of geographical indications, with more than 1,5 million cultivated hectares and 2,3 million heads of livestock. This quality production has an estimated value at origin of more than 7.000 million euros and is subject to a rigorous control program, which is part of the National Plan for Official Control of the Food Chain (PNCOCA 2021-2025) and that carried out 49.213 controls in 2022.
The new regulation will come into force 20 days after its publication and will also be applicable from May 13, 2024, except for the parts related to article 10, sections 4 and 5 (relating to the national opposition procedure of the EU Member States), Article 39, paragraph 1 (referring to the drawing up by Member States of the list of operators that carry out activities subject to obligations established in the specifications of the GIs), and Article 45 (which deals with the certification of compliance with the specifications), which will be applicable from January 1, 2025.
Miguel Angel Medina, Partner-Associate at ELZABURU
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Javier Herreros jherreros@goodwill.es Tel.: 626 20 73 22
