Article 1
Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 is amended as...
Article 2
Spirit drinks belonging to category 10 in Annex II to...
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day...
Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/175
of 2 February 2018
amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to 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 , and in particular Article 26 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 provides that the sales denomination of spirit drinks of the category 9 ‘Fruit spirit’ has to be ‘spirit’ preceded by the name of the fruit, berry or vegetable used. However, in some official languages those sale denominations are traditionally expressed by completing the name of the fruit with a suffix. The indication of a sale denomination consisting of the name of the fruit completed by a suffix should therefore be allowed for fruit spirits labelled in those official languages.
(2)
In Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 the specifications of the category 10 ‘Cider spirit and perry spirit’ do not clearly provide for the possibility of distilling cider and perry together in order to produce this category of spirit drink. However, in some cases the spirit drink is traditionally obtained from the distillation of both cider and perry together. The definition of this category of spirit drinks should therefore be modified in order to explicitly allow for the possibility to distil cider and perry together where this is provided for by traditional production methods. For those cases, it is also necessary to determine rules on the corresponding sales denomination. In order to avoid difficulties for economic operators, it is also appropriate to establish a transitional provision concerning the sales denomination of spirit drinks produced before the entry into force of this Regulation.
(3)
Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(4)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Spirit Drinks,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
OJ L 39, 13.2.2008, p. 16.