spiritsEUROPE is greatly concerned about the legal uncertainty and the negative impact that could result from a last-minute amendment to article 37(3a) of the GI legislation. The amendment would place entirely new, hitherto unevaluated obligations on GI spirits producers which will severely disrupt established practices. Specifically, the new obligation would require labels of spirit drinks with Geographical Indications (GIs) to provide the name of the producer (a term not clearly defined in the Regulation) in the same visual field as the GI. This obligation was introduced at the last minute in the Trilogues without any meaningful prior discussion, impact assessment or consultation.
The amendment fails to consider the established practices and complexities that are part of the production and trading processes of GI spirits. In many situations, the late amendment to article 37(3a) will trigger the need for label redesigns and, in some cases, due to contractual obligations and commercial sensitivities, it is not entirely clear how companies will be expected to comply. To date, we have not managed to obtain clarifying answers with regards to the rationale behind the introduction of this amendment, whether there is full understanding of its expected effects, and if there is scope for potential mitigation against unintended consequences. The new requirement creates an additional burden for spirits GIs relative to non-GI spirits without justification.
spiritsEUROPE and its members request that spirit drink GIs be excluded from article 37(3a). To ensure that our GI members can continue to produce spirits without legal uncertainties on label requirements, a clarifying amendment which either excludes spirit drinks or amends the provision so that spirit drink GIs are at least consistent with the position on the labelling of wine GIs would be necessary.
Until such legislative change has passed, we call on the European Commission to develop a guidance document which will allow for a wide and pragmatic interpretation of the unclear provisions referred to above. Such guidance must be respected and be applied constructively by the Member States’ responsible enforcement authorities.
We are grateful for the understanding inside the European Commission as regards the unexpected, yet significant challenges posed by the late amendment, and we look forward to working side by side to see the matter resolved in a pragmatic yet thorough manner.
