2013/7/EU: Council Decision of 3 December 2012 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on the protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and foodstuffs

The Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on the protection of geographical indications of agricultural products and foodstuffs (the ‘Agreement’) and the Declaration attached thereto are hereby approved on behalf of the Union.

The Commission shall represent the Union in the Joint Committee set up pursuant to Article 11 of the Agreement (the ‘Joint Committee’). Modifications to the Agreement through decisions of the Joint Committee shall be approved by the Commission on behalf of the Union. Where interested parties cannot reach a common position following objections relating to a geographical indication, the Commission shall adopt such a position in accordance with the examination procedure laid down in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers . In doing so, the Commission shall be assisted by either of the following, depending on the products covered by the geographical indications concerned: (a) the Standing Committee on Protected Geographical Indications and Protected Designations of Origin established by 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 ; (b) the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets established by 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) ; or (c) the Committee for Spirit Drinks established by 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 spirit drinks .

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 of 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.

3 "Geographical indication" shall mean an indication as defined in Article 22(1) of the WTO-TRIPs Agreement, which also includes "designations of origin".

1 Having examined the legislation of the Republic of Moldova on the protection of geographical indications, listed in Part A of Annex I, the European Union concludes that that legislation meets the elements laid down in Part C of Annex I.

2 Having examined the legislation of the European Union on the protection of geographical indications, listed in Part B of Annex I, the Government of the Republic of Moldova concludes that that legislation meets the elements laid down in Part C of Annex I.

3 Having completed an objection procedure in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex II, and having examined the geographical indications of the European Union listed in Annex III and the wines, aromatised wines and spirit drinks corresponding to the geographical indications of the European Union listed in Annex IV, which have been registered by the European Union under the legislation referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, the Government of the Republic of Moldova shall protect those geographical indications according to the level of protection laid down in this Agreement.

4 Having completed an objection procedure in accordance with the criteria set out in Annex II, and having examined the agricultural products and foodstuffs corresponding to the geographical indications of Moldova listed in Annex III and the wines, aromatised wines and spirit drinks corresponding to the geographical indications of the Republic of Moldova listed in Annex IV which have been registered by the Republic of Moldova under the legislation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the European Union 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 in Annexes III and IV new geographical indications to be protected, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 11(3) after having completed the objection procedure and after having examined the geographical indications as referred to in Articles 2(3) and 2(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, including a wine grape 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(1), shall be protected against: (a) any direct or indirect commercial use of a protected name: for comparable products not compliant with the product specification of the protected name, or 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, transcribed, transliterated, 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 consulted and be given the opportunity to comment before the name is 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.

5 The provisions of this Agreement shall in no way prejudice the right of any person to use, in the course of trade, that person's name or the name of that person's predecessor in business, except where such name is used in such a manner as to mislead consumers.

1 A name protected under this Agreement may be used by any operator marketing, producing, processing or preparing agricultural products, foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wines or spirit drinks which conform to the corresponding product 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 7 by appropriate administrative actions or legal proceedings, as appropriate, including at the customs border (export and import), in order to prevent and stop any unlawful use of the protected geographical indications. They shall also enforce such protection at the request of an interested party.

Without prejudice to previous commitments of the Republic of Moldova to grant protection for the EU geographical indications derived from international agreements on the protection of geographical indications and the enforcement thereof, including the commitments undertaken in the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, and in accordance with Article 6 of this Agreement, the Republic of Moldova shall benefit from a transitional period of 5 years from the date of entry into force of this Agreement to put in place all complementary actions necessary to stop any unlawful use of the protected geographical indications, in particular the measures at the custom border.

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 Party, a trade mark 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 trade mark 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 For geographical indications referred to in Article 3, the Contracting Parties shall have no obligation to protect a geographical indication where, in the light of a reputed or well-known trade mark, 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 trade mark exists. A prior trade mark shall mean a trade mark 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 by the other Contracting Party under this Agreement. Such trade mark may continue to be used and renewed notwithstanding the protection of the geographical indication, provided that no grounds for the trade mark's invalidity or revocation exist in the legislation on trade marks of the Contracting Parties.

1 This Agreement shall apply without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization done on 15 April 1994.

2 Notwithstanding Article 7, 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 Joint 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 implementation and functioning of this Agreement. In particular, a Contracting Party may request from the other Contracting Party information relating to products 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 Contracting Parties 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 least once a year and at the request of either of the Contracting Parties, alternatively in the European Union and in the Republic of Moldova, 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 Parts A and B of Annex I, 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, (e) monitoring the latest developments regarding the enforcement of the protection of the geographical indications listed in Annexes III and IV.

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

1 This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the official languages of both Contracting Parties.

2 In the event of inconsistencies of interpretation, 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 one year's written notice to the other Contracting Party.