CHAPTER II

PROTECTED DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
SECTION 2

Commission examination procedure

Filing of the application
Article 9
1
The date of submission of an application to the Commission shall be the date on which the application is received by the Commission.
2
The Commission shall confirm receipt of the application to the competent authorities of the Member State or those of the third country or the applicant established in the third country in question and shall attribute a file number to the application.
The confirmation of receipt shall include at least the following:
a
the file number;
b
the name to be registered;
c
the date of receipt of the request.

Submission of a trans-border application
Article 10
1
In the case of a trans-border request, a joint application may be submitted for a name designating a trans-border geographical area by more than one group of producers representing that area.
2
Where only Member States are concerned, the preliminary national procedure referred to in Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 applies in all the Member States concerned.
For the purposes of application of Article 38(5) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, a trans-border application shall be forwarded to the Commission by one Member State on behalf of the others, and shall include an authorisation from each of the other Member States concerned authorising the Member State forwarding the application to act on its behalf.
3
Where a trans-border application involves only third countries, the application shall be forwarded to the Commission either by one of the applicant groups on behalf of the others or by one of the third countries on behalf of the others and shall include:
a
the elements proving that the conditions laid down in Articles 34 and 35 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 are fulfilled;
b
the proof of protection in the third countries concerned; and
c
an authorisation as referred to in paragraph 2 from each of the other third countries concerned.
4
Where a trans-border application involves at least one Member State and at least one third country, the preliminary national procedure referred to in Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 applies in all the Member States concerned. The application shall be forwarded to the Commission by one of the Member States or third countries or by one of the third-country applicant groups and shall include:
a
the elements proving that the conditions laid down in Articles 34 and 35 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 are fulfilled;
b
the proof of protection in the third countries concerned; and
c
an authorisation as referred to in paragraph 2 from each of the other Member States or third countries concerned.
5
The Member State, third countries or groups of producers established in third countries which forwards to the Commission a trans-border application as referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, becomes the consignee of any notification or decision issued by the Commission.

Admissibility of the application
Article 11
1
An application shall be admissible when the single document is duly completed and the supporting documents are enclosed. The single document shall be considered to be duly completed when all the mandatory fields, as presented in the information systems referred to in Article 70a, have been filled in.
In this case, the application shall be considered admissible on the date on which it is received by the Commission. The applicant shall be informed.
This date shall be made known to the public.
2
If the application has not been completed or has been partially completed, or if the supporting documents referred to in paragraph 1 have not been submitted at the same time as the application or some are missing, the application shall be inadmissible.
3
Where the application is inadmissible, the competent authorities of the Member State or those of the third country or the applicant established in the third country in question shall be informed of the reasons for its inadmissibility and that they are entitled to submit another application duly completed.

Scrutiny of the conditions of validity
Article 12
1
If an admissible application does not meet the requirements laid down in Articles 118b and 118c of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, the Commission shall inform the Member State or authorities of the third country or the applicant established in the third country in question of the grounds for refusal, setting a deadline of at least 2 months for the withdrawal or amendment of the application or for the submission of comments.
2
If the obstacles to registration are not remedied by the Member State or third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question within the deadline, the Commission shall reject the application in accordance with Article 39(3) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008.
3
Any decision to reject the designation of origin or geographical indication concerned shall be taken by the Commission on the basis of the documents and information available to it. Such decision on rejection shall be notified to the Member State or the third-country authorities or the applicant established in the third country in question.
Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 670/2011 of 12 July 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 607/2009 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 as regards protected designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products.