If the F1Secretary of State considers that the objection is admissible F2the Secretary of State shall invite the authority or natural or legal person that lodged the objection and the authority or natural or legal person that lodged the application for protection to engage in appropriate consultations for a period of three months. The invitation shall be issued within a period of four months from the date on which F3the single document and the product specification submitted in connection with the application for protection, to which the substantiated statement of objection relates, F4are published under Article 97(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and it shall be accompanied by a copy of the substantiated statement of objection. At any time during these three months, the F5Secretary of State may, at the request of the authority or natural or legal person that lodged the application, extend the deadline for the consultations by a maximum of three months.

The authority or person that lodged the objection and the authority or person that lodged the application for protection shall start such consultations without undue delay. They shall provide each other with the relevant information to assess whether the application for protection complies with the conditions of this Regulation and of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

If the parties reach an agreement, either the applicant F6or, where relevant, the authorities F7... of the third country from which the application for protection was lodged shall notify the F8Secretary of State of the results of the consultations carried out and of all the factors which enabled that agreement to be reached, including the opinions of the parties. If the details published in accordance with Article 97(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 have been substantially amended, the F9Secretary of State shall repeat the scrutiny referred to in Article 97(2) of that Regulation after a F10... procedure ensuring adequate publication of those amended details has been carried out. Where, following the agreement, there are no amendments to the product specification or where the amendments are not substantial, the F11Secretary of State must make a decision in accordance with Article 99 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 conferring protection on the designation of origin or geographical indication.

If no agreement is reached, either the applicant F12or, where relevant, the authorities of the third country from which the application for protection was lodged shall notify the F13Secretary of State of the results of the consultations carried out and of all the related information and documents. The F14Secretary of State must make a decision in accordance with Article 99 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 either conferring protection or rejecting the application.