THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14 July 1992 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs, and in particular Article 17 thereof,
Whereas, pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, in the six months following the entry into force of that Regulation the Member States forwarded to the Commission the legally protected names or names established by usage they wished to register;
Whereas, following examination of those names in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, some of them were found to be in accordance with the provisions of that Regulation and eligible to be registered and protected at Community level as geographical indications or designations of origin;
Whereas generic names are not registered;
Whereas Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 does not apply to the procedure provided for in Article 17;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 14 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, a designation of origin or geographical indication may not be registered where, in the light of a trade mark's reputation and renown and the length of time it has been used, registration is liable to mislead the consumer as to the true identity of the product;
Whereas, where a designation of origin or geographical indication whose name has already been registered as a trade mark is granted protection at the initiative of a single producer in accordance with the criteria set out in Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2037/93, that producer may not prevent other producers in the area defined who produce in accordance with the registered specification from using the protected designation of origin or the protected geographical indication;
Whereas, where a trade mark and a registered designation of origin or geographical indication could coincide, use of the trade mark corresponding to one of the situations referred to in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 may be continued only if that trade mark fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 14 (2) of that Regulation;
Whereas certain Member States have made it known that protection was not requested for some parts of designations and this should be taken into account;
Whereas the registration of protected designations of origin or geographical indications does not imply exemption from the obligation to comply with the rules in force concerning agricultural products and foodstuffs;
Whereas the vote in the Committee provided for in Article 15 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 resulted in no opinion; whereas, in the absence of an opinion and in accordance with that Article, the Commission forwarded a proposal to the Council for it to act on a qualified majority within three months; whereas, given that the Council did not act within that period, the proposed measures should be adopted by the Commission,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: