2012/164/EU: Council Decision of 14 February 2012 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Georgia on protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and foodstuffs

The Agreement between the European Union and Georgia on protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and foodstuffs (the ‘Agreement’) is hereby approved on behalf of the Union. The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

The Commission, assisted by Member States’ representatives, shall represent the Union in the Joint Committee referred to in Article 11 of the Agreement. For the purposes of Article 11(3) of the Agreement, modifications to the Agreement through decisions of the Joint Committee shall be approved by the Commission on behalf of the Union on the basis of the procedure laid down in Article 15(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs .

The President of the Council shall designate the person(s) empowered to give, on behalf of the Union, the notification provided for in Article 14(1) of the Agreement, in order to express the consent of the Union to be bound by the Agreement .

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

1 This Agreement applies to the recognition and protection of geographical indications which are originating in the territories of the Contracting Parties.

2 In order for a geographical indication of a Contracting Party to be protected by the other Contracting Party, it shall cover products within the scope of the legislation of that Contracting Party referred to in Article 2.

1 Having examined the Law of Georgia on appellations of origin and Geographical Indications of Goods, adopted on 22 August 1999, the European Union concludes that that law meets the elements laid down in Annex I to this Agreement.

2 Having examined Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91 of 10 June 1991 laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of aromatized wines, aromatized wine-based drinks and aromatized wine-product cocktails , Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs , with its implementing rules, for the registration, control, and protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and foodstuffs in the European Union, Part II, Title II, Chapter I, Section Ia of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks , Georgia concludes that those laws, rules and procedures meet the elements laid down in Annex I to this Agreement.

3 Georgia, after having completed an objection procedure in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex II, having examined a summary of the specifications of the agricultural products and foodstuffs corresponding to the geographical indications of the European Union listed in Annex III which have been registered by the European Union under the legislation referred to in paragraph 2, and the geographical indications for wines, spirit drinks and aromatised wines laid down in Annex IV, shall protect those geographical indications according to the level of protection laid down in this Agreement.

4 The European Union, after having completed an objection procedure in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex II, after having examined a summary of the specifications of the agricultural products and foodstuffs corresponding to the geographical indications of Georgia listed in Annex III which are registered by Georgia under the legislation referred to in paragraph 1, and the geographical indications for wines, spirit drinks and aromatised wines laid down in Annex IV, shall protect those geographical indications according to the level of protection laid down in this Agreement.

1 The Contracting Parties agree on the possibility to add new geographical indications to be protected in Annexes III and IV in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 11(3) after having completed the objection procedure and after having examined a summary of the specifications as referred to in Article 2(3) and (4) to the satisfaction of both Contracting Parties.

2 A Contracting Party shall not be required to protect as a geographical indication a name that conflicts with the name of a plant variety or an animal breed and as a result is likely to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product.

1 The geographical indications listed in Annexes III and IV, as well as those added pursuant to Article 3, shall be protected against: (a) any direct or indirect commercial use of a protected name: (i) for comparable products not compliant with the product specification of the protected name; or (ii) in so far as such use exploits the reputation of a geographical indication; (b) any misuse, imitation or evocation , even if the true origin of the product is indicated or if the protected name is translated or accompanied by an expression such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’, ‘flavour’, ‘like’ or similar; (c) any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities of the product, on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material or documents relating to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin; (d) any other practice liable to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product.

2 If geographical indications are wholly or partially homonymous, protection shall be granted to each indication provided that it has been used in good faith and with due regard for local and traditional usage and the actual risk of confusion. Without prejudice to Article 23 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Contracting Parties shall mutually decide the practical conditions of use under which the homonymous geographical indications will be differentiated from each other, taking into account the need to ensure equitable treatment of the producers concerned and that consumers are not misled. A homonymous name which misleads the consumer into believing that products come from another territory shall not be registered even if the name is accurate as far as the actual territory, region or place of origin of the product in question is concerned.

3 Where a Contracting Party, in the context of negotiations with a third country, proposes to protect a geographical indication of that third country, and the name is homonymous with a geographical indication of the other Contracting Party the latter shall be informed and be given the opportunity to comment before the name becomes protected.

4 Nothing in this Agreement shall oblige a Contracting Party to protect a geographical indication of the other Contracting Party which is not or ceases to be protected in its country of origin. The Contracting Parties shall notify each other if a geographical indication ceases to be protected in its country of origin.

1 Geographical indications protected under this Agreement in the Georgian alphabet and other non-Latin alphabets officially used in Member States of the European Union shall be protected together with their transcription in Latin characters. This transcription may also be used for labelling purposes for the products concerned.

2 Similarly, geographical indications protected under this Agreement in a Latin alphabet, shall be protected together with their transcription in the characters of the Georgian alphabet and of other non-Latin alphabets officially used in Member States of the European Union. This transcription may also be used for labelling purposes for the products concerned.

1 A name protected under this Agreement may be used by any operator marketing agricultural products, foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wines or spirit drinks conforming to the corresponding specification.

2 Once a geographical indication is protected under this Agreement, the use of such protected name shall not be subject to any registration of users, or further charges.

The Contracting Parties shall enforce the protection provided for in Articles 2 to 6 by appropriate administrative action by their public authorities. They shall also enforce such protection at the request of an interested party.

1 The Contracting Parties shall refuse to register or shall invalidate, ex officio or at the request of any interested party in conformity with the legislation of each Contracting Party, a trademark that corresponds to any of the situations referred to in Article 4(1) in relation to a protected geographical indication for like products, provided an application to register the trademark is submitted after the date of application for protection of the geographical indication in the territory concerned.

2 For geographical indications referred to in Article 2, the date of application for protection shall be the date of entry into force of this Agreement.

3 For geographical indications referred to in Article 3, the date of application for protection shall be the date of the transmission of a request to the other Contracting Party to protect a geographical indication.

4 The Contracting Parties shall have no obligation to protect a geographical indication where, in the light of a reputed or well-known trademark, protection is liable to mislead consumers as to the true identity of the product.

5 Without prejudice to paragraph 4, the Contracting Parties shall protect geographical indications also where a prior trademark exists. A prior trademark shall mean a trademark the use of which corresponds to one of the situations referred to in Article 4(1), which has been applied for, registered or established by use, if that possibility is provided for by the legislation concerned, in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties before the date on which the application for protection of the geographical indication is submitted to the other Contracting Party under this Agreement. Such a trademark may continue to be used and renewed notwithstanding the protection of the geographical indication, provided that no grounds for the trademark’s invalidity or revocation exist in the legislation on trademarks of the Contracting Parties.

1 This Agreement shall apply without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under the WTO Agreement.

2 The import, export and marketing of any product referred to in Articles 2 and 3 shall be conducted in compliance with the laws and regulations applying in the territory of the importing Contracting Party.

3 Any matter arising from technical specifications of registered names shall be dealt with in the Committee established pursuant to Article 11.

4 Geographical indications protected under this Agreement may only be cancelled by the Contracting Party in which the product originates.

5 A product specification referred to in this Agreement shall be that approved, including any amendments also approved, by the authorities of the Contracting Party in the territory of which the product originates.

1 The Contracting Parties shall, either directly or through the Joint Committee established pursuant to Article 11, maintain contact on all matters relating to the implementation and the functioning of this Agreement, in particular, a Contracting Party may request from the other Contracting Party information relating to product specifications and their modification, and contact points for control provisions.

2 Each Contracting Party may make publicly available the product specifications or a summary thereof and contact points for control provisions corresponding to geographical indications of the other Contracting Party protected pursuant to this Agreement.

1 Both Contracting Parties agree to set up a Joint Committee consisting of representatives of the European Union and Georgia with the purpose of monitoring the development of this Agreement and of intensifying their co-operation and dialogue on geographical indications.

2 The Joint Committee adopts its decisions by consensus. It shall determine its own rules of procedure. It shall meet at the request of either of the Contracting Parties, alternatively in the European Union and in Georgia, at a time and a place and in a manner (which may include by videoconference) mutually determined by the Contracting Parties, but no later than 90 days after the request.

3 The Joint Committee shall also see to the proper functioning of this Agreement and may consider any matter related to its implementation and operation. In particular, it shall be responsible for: (a) amending Article 2(1) and (2), as regards the references to the law applicable in the Contracting Parties; (b) modifying Annexes III and IV as regards geographical indications; (c) exchanging information on legislative and policy developments on geographical indications and any other matter of mutual interest in the area of geographical indications; (d) exchanging information on geographical indications for the purpose of considering their protection in accordance with this Agreement.

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories to which the Treaty on European Union applies and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of Georgia.

This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Georgian languages, all these texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence, the English text shall prevail.

1 This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other in writing that their respective procedures for the entry into force of this Agreement have been completed.

2 Either Contracting Party may terminate this Agreement by giving 1 year’s written notice to the other Contracting Party.