Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 provides for the possibility to use the term ‘dry’ for the category of spirit drink ‘London gin’. That spirit drink is not allowed to contain added sweetening exceeding 0,1 gram of sugars per litre. For the categories of spirit drinks ‘gin’ and ‘distilled gin’ there is no established limit for the addition of sweetening. However, when ‘gin’ and ‘distilled gin’ are produced without sugar or with a sugar content not exceeding 0,1 gram per litre, the possibility to use the term ‘dry’ should be extended to those spirit drinks as defined in that Annex.

The geographical indications ‘Polska Wódka/Polish Vodka’ and ‘Originali lietuviška degtinė/Original Lithuanian vodka’ are registered for product category 15, ‘Vodka’, of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008. However, the technical specifications for those geographical indications also cover flavoured vodka. Therefore, those geographical indications should also be included in product category 31, ‘Flavoured vodka’, of that Annex. In order to inform the consumer of the true nature of the product, the label of that type of vodka should bear the sales denomination ‘flavoured vodka’ or ‘vodka’ with the predominant flavour.

Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

To facilitate the transition from the rules provided for in Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 to those set out in this Regulation, the marketing of existing stocks should be foreseen until they run out and the use of labels printed before the date of entry into force of this Regulation should be allowed until 31 December 2015.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Spirit Drinks,