Discussions continue on the proposed alignment of the hugely important spirit drinks Regulation (Regulation 110/2008). The rules it contains define each of the categories of spirit made in the EU, set out how they should be labelled and include additional protection for spirits with geographical indications: Irish Whiskey; Rhum de la Martinique, Polish vodka, etc…
The issues have been complicated by the separate efforts being made by the Commission to harmonise and simplify the various schemes for protecting all the EU’s geographical indications (foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wines and spirits). While the principles are laudable and we have always said we support administrative harmonisation of the rules for spirits, we are greatly concerned at the possible proposal to remove the rules for GI spirits from their current specific vertical law and place them instead in the horizontal GI foodstuffs legislation. The latter deals with agricultural, as opposed to processed agricultural, products like spirits and its whole ethos is unrepresentative for the spirits sector.
Any such move would undoubtedly give rise to technical conflicts between the rules and lead to the entirely inappropriate situation whereby rules for GI spirit drinks would be set by a committee of Member States with no expertise in the matter, whilst the current committee that does have the expertise would lose the responsibility for its GIs. In addition, protection of GI spirits in third countries would be made more complicated; this would not be welcome given that it is export markets that have driven the spirits sector’s impressive growth over the last decade.
