Regulation (EU) 2021/2117 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products, (EU) No 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, (EU) No 251/2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products and (EU) No 228/2013 laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union

(3) in Article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: ‘1. For the purpose of this Regulation, a “designation of origin” is a name, which may be a traditionally used name, which identifies a product: (a) originating in a specific place, region or, in exceptional cases, country; (b) whose quality or characteristics are essentially or exclusively due to a particular geographical environment with its inherent natural and human factors; and (c) the production steps of which all take place in the defined geographical area.

(a) originating in a specific place, region or country; (b) whose given quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin; and (c) at least one of the production steps of which takes place in the defined geographical area.’;

(4) in Article 6, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. A name may not be registered as a designation of origin or geographical indication where it conflicts with a name of a plant variety or an animal breed and is likely to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product or to cause confusion between products with the registered designation and the variety or breed in question. The conditions referred to in the first subparagraph shall be assessed in relation to the actual use of the names in conflict, including the use of the name of the plant variety or animal breed outside its area of origin and the use of the name of a plant variety protected by another intellectual property right.’;

(5) in Article 7, paragraph 1 is amended as follows: (a) point (f) is replaced by the following: ‘(f) details establishing the following: (i) as regards a protected designation of origin, the link between the quality or characteristics of the product and the geographical environment referred to in Article 5(1); the details concerning human factors of that geographical environment may, where relevant, be limited to a description of the soil and landscape management, cultivation practices or any other relevant human contribution to the maintenance of the natural factors of the geographical environment referred to in that paragraph; (ii) as regards a protected geographical indication, the link between a given quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product and the geographical origin referred to in Article 5(2);’ (b) the following subparagraph is added: ‘The product specification may contain a description of the contribution of the designation of origin or geographical indication to sustainable development.’;

(6) in Article 10(1), the introductory wording is replaced by the following: ‘A reasoned statement of opposition as referred to in Article 51(1) shall be admissible only if it is received by the Commission within the time limit set out in that paragraph and if it:’;

(7) in Article 12, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. In the case of products originating in the Union that are marketed under a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication registered in accordance with the procedures laid down in this Regulation, the Union symbols associated with them shall appear on the labelling and advertising materials. The labelling requirements set out in Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 for the presentation of mandatory particulars shall apply to the registered name of the product. The indications “protected designation of origin” or “protected geographical indication” or the corresponding abbreviations “PDO” or “PGI” may appear on the labelling.’;

(8) Article 13 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, point (a) is replaced by the following: ‘(a) any direct or indirect commercial use of a registered name in respect of products not covered by the registration where those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or where using the name exploits, weakens or dilutes the reputation of the protected name, including when those products are used as an ingredient;’; (b) the following paragraph is added: ‘4. The protection referred to in paragraph 1 shall also apply with regard to: (a) goods entering the customs territory of the Union without being released for free circulation within the customs territory of the Union; and (b) goods sold by means of distance selling, such as electronic commerce. For goods entering the customs territory of the Union without being released for free circulation within that territory, the group or any operator entitled to use the protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication shall be entitled to prevent all third parties from bringing goods, in the course of trade, into the Union without being released for free circulation there, where such goods, including packaging, come from third countries and bear without authorisation the protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication.’;

(9) Article 15 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 1, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 57(2) except where an admissible statement of opposition is lodged under Article 49(3).’; (b) in paragraph 2, the introductory wording is replaced by the following: ‘Without prejudice to Article 14, the Commission may adopt implementing acts extending the transitional period mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article to up to 15 years in duly justified cases where it is shown that:’;

(10) the following Article is inserted: ‘Article 16a Existing geographical indications for aromatised wine products Names entered in the register established pursuant to Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (^*7) shall automatically be entered in the register referred to in Article 11 of this Regulation as protected geographical indications. The corresponding specifications shall be deemed to be specifications for the purposes of Article 7 of this Regulation.

(11) in Article 21(1), the introductory wording is replaced by the following: ‘1. A reasoned statement of opposition as referred to in Article 51(1) shall be admissible only if it is received by the Commission before expiry of the time limit and if it:’;

(12) in Article 23, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. In the case of products originating in the Union that are marketed under a traditional speciality guaranteed registered in accordance with this Regulation, the symbol referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall, without prejudice to paragraph 4 of this Article, appear on the labelling and advertising materials. The labelling requirements set out in Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 for the presentation of mandatory particulars shall apply to the registered name of the product. The indication “traditional speciality guaranteed” or the corresponding abbreviation “TSG” may appear on the labelling. The symbol shall be optional on the labelling of traditional specialities guaranteed which are produced outside the Union.’;

(13) Article 24 is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. Registered names shall be protected against any misuse, imitation or evocation, including as regards products used as ingredients, or against any other practice liable to mislead the consumer.’; (b) the following paragraph is added: ‘4. The protection referred to in paragraph 1 shall also apply with regard to goods sold through means of distance selling, such as electronic commerce.’;

(14) the following Article is inserted: ‘Article 24a Transitional periods for use of traditional specialities guaranteed The Commission may adopt implementing acts granting a transitional period of up to five years to enable products the designation of which consists of or contains a name that contravenes Article 24(1) to continue to use the designation under which they were marketed on condition that an admissible statement of opposition under Article 49(3) or Article 51 shows that such name has been legally used on the Union market for at least five years preceding the date of the publication provided for in Article 50(2), point (b). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 57(2) except where an admissible statement of opposition is lodged under Article 49(3).’;

(15) in Article 49, the following paragraph is added: ‘8. The Member State shall inform the Commission without delay if any proceedings are initiated before a national court or other national body concerning an application lodged with the Commission, in accordance with paragraph 4, and if the application has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final judicial decision.’;

(16) Article 50 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 50 Scrutiny by the Commission and publication for opposition

Scrutiny by the Commission should not exceed a period of six months from the date of receipt of the application from the Member State. Where that period is exceeded, the Commission shall inform the applicant of the reasons for the delay in writing. The Commission shall, at least each month, publish the list of names for which applications for registration have been submitted to it, as well as the date of their submission.

(a) for applications under the scheme set out in Title II, the single document and the reference to the publication of the product specification; (b) for applications under the scheme set out in Title III, the specification.

(a) informs the Commission that the application has been invalidated at national level by an immediately applicable but not final judicial decision; or (b) requests the Commission to suspend the scrutiny referred to in paragraph 1 because national judicial proceedings have been initiated to challenge the validity of the application and the Member State considers that those proceedings are based on valid grounds. The exemption shall have effect until the Commission is informed by the Member State that the original application has been restored or that the Member State withdraws its request for suspension.’;

(17) Article 51 is amended as follows: (a) paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are replaced by the following: ‘1. Within three months from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or any natural or legal person resident or established in a third country and having a legitimate interest, may lodge a reasoned statement of opposition with the Commission. Any natural or legal person resident or established in a Member State other than that from which the application was submitted, and having a legitimate interest, may lodge a reasoned statement of opposition with the Member State in which it is resident or established within a time limit permitting an opposition to be lodged pursuant to the first subparagraph.

The authority or person that lodged the reasoned statement of opposition and the authority or body that lodged the application shall start such appropriate consultations without undue delay. They shall provide each other with the relevant information to assess whether the application for registration complies with the conditions laid down in this Regulation. If no agreement is reached, this information shall be provided to the Commission. At any time within the period of consultations, the Commission may, at the request of the applicant, extend the deadline for the consultations by a maximum of three months.’; (b) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: ‘5. The reasoned statement of opposition and other documents which are sent to the Commission in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be in one of the official languages of the Union.’;

(18) in Article 52, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: ‘1. Where, on the basis of the information available to the Commission from the scrutiny carried out pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 50(1), the Commission considers that the conditions laid down in Articles 5 and 6, as regards the quality schemes set out in Title II, or in Article 18, as regards the quality schemes set out in Title III, are not fulfilled, it shall adopt implementing acts rejecting the application. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 57(2).

(19) Article 53 is amended as follows: (a) the title is replaced by the following: ‘Article 53 Amendments to product specifications’; (b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. Amendments to a product specification shall be classified into two categories as regards their importance: Union amendments, requiring an opposition procedure at the Union level, and standard amendments to be dealt with at Member State or third country level. For the purposes of this Regulation, “Union amendment” means an amendment to a product specification that: (a) includes a change in the name of the protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication, or in the use of that name; (b) risks voiding the link referred to in Article 5(1), point (b), for protected designations of origin, or the link referred to in Article 5(2), point (b), for protected geographical indications; (c) concerns a traditional speciality guaranteed; or (d) entails further restrictions on the marketing of the product. “Standard amendment” means any amendment to a product specification that is not a Union amendment. “Temporary amendment” means a standard amendment concerning a temporary change in the product specification resulting from the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures by the public authorities or a temporary amendment necessary because of a natural disaster or adverse weather conditions formally recognised by the competent authorities. Union amendments shall be approved by the Commission. The approval procedure shall follow the procedure laid down in Articles 49 to 52, mutatis mutandis. The scrutiny of the application shall focus on the proposed amendment. Where appropriate, the Commission or the Member State concerned may invite the applicant to modify other elements of the product specifications. Standard amendments shall be approved and made public by the Member State in whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located and communicated to the Commission. Third countries shall approve standard amendments in accordance with the law applicable in the third country concerned and communicate them to the Commission.’; (c) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. In order to facilitate the administrative process in relation to Union and standard amendments to product specifications, including where an amendment does not involve any change to the single document, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 56, complementing the rules of the amendment application process. The Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down detailed rules on the procedures for, form of and presentation of an amendment application for Union amendments, and on the procedures for and form of standard amendments and their communication to the Commission. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 57(2).’;

(20) in Annex I, Point I, the following indents are added: ‘– aromatised wines as defined in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014, – other alcoholic beverages, except for spirit drinks and grapevine products as defined in Annex VII, Part II, to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, – beeswax.’.

Article 3

Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 251/2014

(1) the title is replaced by the following: ‘Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of aromatised wine products and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91’;

(2) in Article 1, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. This Regulation lays down rules on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of aromatised wine products.’;

(3) in Article 2, point 3 is deleted;

(4) Article 5 is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4. Sales denominations may be supplemented or replaced by a geographical indication of aromatised wine products protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.’; (b) the following paragraphs are added: ‘6. In the case of aromatised wine products produced in the Union that are destined for export to third countries whose legislation requires different sales denominations, Member States may allow those sales denominations to accompany the sales denominations set out in Annex II. Those additional sales denominations may appear in languages other than the official languages of the Union.

(5) the following Article is inserted: ‘Article 6a Nutrition declaration and ingredients list

(a) the nutrition declaration pursuant to Article 9(1), point (l), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011; and (b) the list of ingredients pursuant to Article 9(1), point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

(a) no user data shall be collected or tracked; (b) the list of ingredients shall not be displayed with other information intended for sales or marketing purposes; and (c) the indication of the particulars referred to in Article 9(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 shall appear directly on the package or on a label attached thereto. The indication referred to in the first subparagraph, point (c), of this paragraph shall comprise the word “contains” followed by the name of the substance or product as listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

(6) in Article 8, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. The name of the geographical indication of aromatised wine products protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 shall appear on the label in the language or languages in which it is registered, even where the geographical indication replaces the sales denomination in accordance with Article 5(4) of this Regulation. Where the name of a geographical indication of aromatised wine products protected under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 is written in a non-Latin alphabet, it may also appear in one or more of the official languages of the Union.’;

(7) Article 9 is deleted;

(8) Chapter III, containing Articles 10 to 30, is deleted.

(9) Article 33 is amended as follows: (a) the following paragraph is inserted: ‘2a. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5(7) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 7 December 2021. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 6a(4) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 8 December 2023. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.’; (b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following: ‘3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 4(2), Article 5(7), Article 6a(4), Article 28, Article 32(2) and Article 36(1) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the powers specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force.’; (c) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: ‘5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 4(2), Article 5(7), Article 6a(4), Article 28, Article 32(2) and Article 36(1) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months on the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.’;

(10) in Annex I, point (1)(a), the following point is added: ‘(iv) spirit drinks in a quantity not exceeding 1 % of the overall volume.’;

(11) Annex II is amended as follows: (a) in Part A, point (3), the first indent is replaced by the following: ‘- to which alcohol may have been added; and’ (b) Part B is amended as follows: (i) in point (8), the first indent is replaced by the following: ‘- which is obtained exclusively from red or white wine or both,’; (ii) the following point is added: ‘(14) Wino ziołowe Aromatised wine-based drink: (a) which is obtained from wine and in which grapevine products represent at least 85 % of the total volume, (b) which has been flavoured exclusively with flavouring preparations obtained from herbs or spices or both, (c) which has not been coloured, (d) which has an actual alcoholic strength by volume of not less than 7 %’.

Article 4

Amendment to Regulation (EU) No 228/2013

The following Article is inserted:

Article 5

Transitional provisions

Recognised producer organisations or their associations in the fruit and vegetables sector having an operational programme as referred to in Article 33 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that has been approved by a Member State for a duration beyond 31 December 2022 shall, by 15 September 2022, submit a request to that Member State to the effect that its operational programme:

(a) be modified to meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115; or

(b) be replaced by a new operational programme approved under Regulation (EU) 2021/2115; or

(c) continue to operate until its end under the conditions applicable under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

Where such recognised producer organisations or their associations do not submit such requests by 15 September 2022, their operational programmes which were approved under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall end on 31 December 2022.

The support programmes in the wine sector referred to in Article 40 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall continue to apply until 15 October 2023. Articles 39 to 54 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall continue to apply after 31 December 2022 as regards:

(a) expenditure incurred and payments made for operations implemented pursuant to that Regulation before 16 October 2023 within the aid scheme referred to in Articles 39 to 52 of that Regulation;

(b) expenditure incurred and payments made for operations implemented pursuant to Articles 46 and 50 of that Regulation before 16 October 2025, provided that by 15 October 2023 such operations have been partially implemented and the expenditure incurred amounts to at least 30 % of the total planned expenditure and that such operations are fully implemented by 15 October 2025.

Article 6

Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 1 , points (8)(d)(i), (8)(d)(iii), (10)(a)(ii) and (38), shall apply from 1 January 2021.

Article 2 , point (19)(b), shall apply from 8 June 2022.

Article 1 , points (1), (2)(b), (8)(a), (8)(b), (8)(e), (18), (31), (35), (62), (68)(a), (69) and (73), shall apply from 1 January 2023.

Article 1 , points (32)(a)(ii) and (32)(c), and Article 3, point (5), shall apply from 8 December 2023.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.