Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1956 of 29 September 2025 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products

The Commission shall inform the Office through the digital system and through email the competent authority of the Member State making the request, within two months after the receipt of the request referred to in paragraph 1 on its decision as to whether it will take over the power to decide in a procedure referred to in Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411. The Commission communication shall indicate the grounds and provide a justification.

When the Commission intends to take over the power to decide in a procedure as referred to in Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 on its own initiative, it shall inform the Office through the digital system and through email the competent authority of the Member State where the product originates. The Commission communication shall indicate the grounds and provide a justification.

Information that the Commission has taken over the procedure, the ground invoked, and the justification shall be published in the Union register by the Office within 2 weeks after the Commission has informed the Office about the takeover, in all the official languages of the Union.

The procedure before the Office shall be suspended as from the date of submission of the request to the Commission until the Commission informs the Office and the requesting competent authority of the Member State whether it will take over the power to decide. In case the Commission decides not to take over the procedure, the Office shall without delay resume the procedure.

Where the Commission takes over the procedure from the Office as referred to in Article 30 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, the Office shall provide the Commission with a draft decision referred to in Article 30(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 in electronic form.

The Commission shall endeavour to adopt the implementing act regarding the final decision in a given procedure pursuant to Article 30(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 within nine months after the submission of the request referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article or after it has informed the Office of acting on its own initiative. The implementing act shall contain information that the Commission has taken over the case, the grounds and justification.

When used, the Union symbol, the indication ‘PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION’ within the symbol as well as the abbreviation ‘PGI’ referred to in Article 48 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 and established by Article 34 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/26 [^ntr6-L_202501956EN.000101-E0006] shall be reproduced as laid down in Annex I to this Regulation to indicate a protected geographical indication for a craft and industrial product. This Union symbol, indication and abbreviation may be used in any of the official languages of the Union.

The Union symbol, indication and abbreviation referring to the protected geographical indication may only be used in connection with products covered under the rules of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.

The Union symbol, indication or abbreviation may appear on the labelling of a product only after the publication of the decision registering that geographical indication. If they appear on the labelling of a product, they shall be accompanied by the registered name.

The Union symbol, indication and abbreviation may be used in media or in advertising materials for the purpose of the divulgation of the protection of the geographical indication or of advertisement of the registered names.

The Office shall establish means of payment pursuant to Article 157(4), point (a), of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001, for the fees.

All payments referred to in Annex II of this Regulation, shall be made in euros within ten calendar days after filing the application for registration, the request for Union amendment, the request for cancellation or the notice of appeal.

Every payment shall indicate the corresponding geographical indication, and the name of the person making the payment and shall contain the necessary information to enable the Office to establish immediately the purpose of the payment.

If the purpose of the payment referred to in paragraph 3 cannot immediately be established, the Office shall require the person making the payment to notify it by electronic means of communication within a given reasonable period indicated in the notification. If the person does not comply with this notification in the prescribed period, the payment shall be considered not to have been made. Any amount which has been paid shall be refunded.

The appeal fee shall be reimbursed by order of the Board of Appeal in any of the following events:

Upon request by the Commission, the Office shall assess the possibility of adopting a fee rebate mechanism for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (‘MSMEs’) in cooperation with the Commission.

The fees referred to in Annex II to this Regulation shall apply.

The Union register referred to in Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 shall be established as a digital solution allowing the technical storage of, and public access to, all entries concerning geographical indications, including applications for registration, for Union amendment and for cancellation, rejections, publications for opposition, registrations, approvals of Union amendments, publications of standard and temporary amendments, and cancellations. The Union register shall be made available in all official languages of the Union.

In addition to the data referred to in Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 and specific references in this Regulation and Delegated Regulation C(2025) 9101, the following data shall be recorded in the Union register:

Where the Office approves a Union amendment to a product specification or receives a communication of an approved, or annulled, standard amendment to the product specification that necessitates a change to the information recorded in the Union register, it shall update the data listed in paragraphs 2 as appropriate, with effect from the date on which the amendment is applicable in the Union. Electronic references to the publication of communications of standard amendments and temporary amendments shall be recorded by the Office. In the case of direct registrations, the amendment with effect from the date of the Office’s decision on the standard amendment and the temporary amendment shall be recorded in the Union register.

Where the registration of a geographical indication has been cancelled, the Union register shall indicate the names as cancelled in accordance with Article 25(3) and (4) of this Regulation. The Union register shall maintain a record of the cancellation, including the electronic reference to the decision of cancellation.

Where the Office receives an application for registration, or a request for approval of a Union amendment or a request for cancellation, under Article 22(7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, the name, the file number, the type of the product, the country of origin, the application type, the date of application and the status of the received application or request, shall be recorded in the Union register. The date of publication and the electronic reference to that publication shall also be recorded once the application is published in the Union register. The Union register shall keep a record of the decision to reject an application.

The data referred to in paragraphs 2 to 5 shall remain in the Union register.

Member States shall be responsible for keeping the electronic reference to the product specification active and properly functioning as long as the geographical indication remains protected. The electronic reference shall lead directly to the last updated version of the individual product specification.

The processing of the data concerning the entries set out in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, including any personal data, shall take place for the purposes of:

All the data, including personal data, concerning the entries referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and in Article 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, is of public interest and may be accessed by any third party. The entries in the Union register shall be kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed.

The extract from the Union register shall include the data referred to in Article 31(2), points (a) to (g) of this Regulation and in Article 37(2) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.

The form and online presentation of the extract from the Union register referred to in on Article 38(1) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 shall be drawn up in accordance with the form made available online by the Office.

The competent authorities referred to in Section 10 of this Regulation, refer to the competent authorities of the Member States designated pursuant Article 50 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.

The competent authorities of the Member States shall provide each other with mutual assistance in accordance with this Section, in order to ensure the correct application of the rules of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 in cases which have relevance in more than one Member State.

The competent authorities of the Member States shall, upon request, communicate to each other relevant information about the controls performed pursuant to Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411.

The requests for mutual assistance as referred to in Article 62 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 shall be submitted by and to the competent authorities of the Member States.

The information to be exchanged between the competent authorities of the Member States with the intention to support control and enforcement activities may include:

All official communication between the competent authorities of the Member States shall be done in writing, through electronic means. The Commission may make available a computerised information management system, for the integrated operation of the mechanisms through which data, information and documents concerning official controls and other official activities are automatically exchanged. The information management system may be interconnected with other relevant Commission databases used by enforcement authorities in the Union for the safety and compliance of products.

Assistance shall include, where appropriate, and subject to the agreement of the competent authorities concerned, participation by the competent authorities of a Member State to on-the-spot official controls that the competent authorities of another Member State perform.

This Section shall be without prejudice to national law:

Member States shall take measures to facilitate the transmission, from law enforcement authorities, public prosecutors and judicial authorities to the competent ones, of information on possible non-compliance with the rules referred to in Title IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 which is relevant for the application of this Section and which may constitute a risk to human health, or to the environment.

Where the competent authorities of a Member State consider that, for the performance of official controls or for the effective follow-up to such controls in their territory, they require data or information from the competent authorities of another Member State, they shall issue a reasoned request for mutual assistance to the competent authorities of that Member State. The latter competent authorities shall:

By agreement between the requesting competent authorities and the requested competent authorities, staff designated by the former may be present during the official controls and investigations referred to in paragraph 1, point (c), performed by the requested competent authorities.

In such cases the staff of the requesting competent authorities shall:

When the competent authorities of a Member State become aware of a case of non-compliance, and if such non-compliance may have implications for another Member State, they shall notify such information to the competent authorities of that other Member State without being requested to do so and without undue delay.

The competent authorities notified in accordance with paragraph 1 shall:

The information referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 shall be notified to the Commission to a dedicated functional mailbox managed by the Directorate responsible for the craft and industrial geographical indications scheme.

Where, during official controls performed on goods originating in another Member State, the competent authorities establish that such goods do not comply with the rules of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 in such a way as to create a risk to human health or to the environment, or to constitute a potentially serious infringement of those rules, they shall, without delay, notify the competent authorities of the relevant Member State and of any other concerned Member State in order to enable those competent authorities to undertake appropriate investigations.

The notified competent authorities shall without delay:

If the notifying competent authorities have reason to believe that the investigations performed or the measures taken by the notified competent authorities do not adequately address the non-compliance established, they shall request, when it is reasonable, the notified competent authorities to complement the official controls performed or the measures taken. In such cases, both the notifying competent authorities and the notified competent authorities shall seek an agreed approach with the aim of appropriately addressing the non-compliance, including through joint official controls and investigations performed in accordance with Article 34(2) and (3).

When official controls performed on goods originating in another Member State show repeated cases of non-compliance as referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Member State of destination shall inform the competent authorities of the other Member States without delay.

When competent authorities receive information from a third country indicating non-compliance in the Union with Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 or a risk to humans or the environment, they shall, without delay:

Information obtained through official controls and investigations performed in accordance with this Regulation may be communicated to the third country referred to in paragraph 1, provided that:

All notifications, communications, documents and information required for the implementation of Article 20(4) and Chapter 3, Section 1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, Delegated Regulation C(2025) 9101 and this Regulation, shall be communicated to and by the Office through the digital system, unless otherwise expressly provided in these regulations. The execution of these notifications, communications, documents and information by the Office through the digital system shall occur by providing electronic access to them. The Office shall send an email alert to the addressees about the new notification, communication, document and information made available in the digital system by the Office, communicating to them also the data to access them.

Any notifications, communications, documents or information not covered by paragraph 1, shall be communicated to and by the Office via electronic mail, using the dedicated functional mailbox.

For official technical communications concerning geographical indications of craft and industrial products, each Member State shall communicate to the Office and to the Commission by 2 December 2025, to their respective dedicated functional mailboxes, one contact point comprising a department and address, a dedicated functional mailbox, and a departmental telephone number. The Member States shall keep the list of contact points up to date. This data shall only identify official functions, offices and departments. None of the data shall identify any natural persons, contact numbers or other data items.

Member States which have received a derogation from the national phase, in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, shall, in addition to the information referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, communicate to the Office and to the Commission, to their respective dedicated functional mailboxes, information regarding the single point of contact referred to in Article 19(5) of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 by 2 December 2025. It shall comprise a department and address, a functional electronic mailbox address, and a departmental telephone number. Member States shall keep the information on these single points of contact up to date. This data shall only identify official functions, offices and departments. None of the data shall identify any natural persons, contact numbers or other data items.

The Office and the Commission may keep, store, share, make public and periodically circulate the complete list of such contact points, including sharing with its own services, other Union institutions and bodies, and all contact points on the list. The Office may require this data to be submitted through its digital system.

Any communications and submissions referred to in Regulation (EU) 2023/2411, Delegated Regulation C(2025) 9101 and this Regulation shall be deemed to have been made on the date on which they are received by the Office through its digital system or, where relevant, by the Commission to its dedicated functional mailbox.

Where a communication that is received is incomplete or illegible or where the Office has reasonable doubts as to the accuracy of the transmission, the Office shall inform the sender accordingly and shall invite the sender, within a period to be specified by the Office, to retransmit it through the digital system. Where that request is complied with within the period specified, the date of receipt of the initial transmission shall be deemed to be the date of filing or submission.

The Office shall confirm receipt of all notifications, communications, documents and information received through the digital system to the parties concerned through that digital system.

The Office shall assign a file number to each new application for registration, each amendment, or each submission of opposition, notice of comments, cancellation or appeal.

The confirmation of receipt shall include at least the following elements:

The competent authority or the single point of contact of a Member State may request the Office, through a dedicated functional mailbox, not to provide the translations referred to in Article 16(5) and Article 17(4). Such request shall be submitted before 1 May 2026. In the request, the Member State shall indicate clearly by reference to the relevant articles the translations it does not wish to receive.

The request for exemption referred to in paragraph 1 may be wholly or partially withdrawn, in the same way as described in that paragraph.