http://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2019/787/article/31Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008King's Printer of Acts of Parliamenthttps://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/eu-exit/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02019R0787-20190517texttext/xmlen2025-04-04Expert Participation2025-02-27 CHAPTER III<Strong>GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS</Strong>Amendment to a product specificationArticle 311Any group having a legitimate interest may apply for approval of an amendment to a product specification.Applications shall describe and give reasons for the amendments requested.2Amendments to a product specification shall be classified into two categories as regards their importance:anon-standard amendments requiring an opposition procedure under Article 27, as applied to applications for non-standard amendments by paragraph 9;bstandard amendments. Standard amendments to a product specification for a geographical indication relating to an area in a third country are to be dealt with at ... third country level.3An amendment shall be considered a non-standard amendment if it:aincludes a change in the name or any part of the name of the geographical indication registered under this Regulation;bconsists of a change of the legal name or the category of the spirit drink;crisks voiding the given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the spirit drink that is essentially attributable to its geographical origin; ordentails further restrictions on the marketing of the product.Any other amendments shall be considered standard amendments.4Standard amendments are classified into four sub-categories taking into account the geographical area of the geographical indication affected by the amendment, the reason for the amendments and whether the amendments are being applied for on a temporary basis, as follows: a)UK standard amendments;b)UK temporary amendments;c)third country standard amendments;d)third country temporary amendments.5A UK standard amendment is a standard amendment of a product specification for a geographical indication relating to a geographical area in the United Kingdom.6A UK temporary amendment is a standard amendment concerning a temporary change in a product specification for a geographical indication relating to a geographical area in the United Kingdom:a)resulting from the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures, or linked to natural disasters formally recognised, by the Secretary of State, or imposed or formally recognised by:i)the Environment Agency in a case where, and to the extent that, a relevant geographical area in England is affected;ii)the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, or the Department of Health, in a case where, and to the extent that, a relevant geographical area in Northern Ireland is affected;iii)the Scottish Ministers, Food Standards Scotland or the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in a case where, and to the extent that, a relevant geographical area in Scotland is affected;iv)the Welsh Ministers, or the Natural Resources Body for Wales, in a case where, and to the extent that, a relevant geographical area in Wales is affected;v)the Food Standards Agency in a case where, and to the extent that, a relevant geographical area in England, Northern Ireland or Wales is affected, orb)linked to adverse weather conditions formally recognised by the Met Office of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.7A third country standard amendment is a standard amendment of a product specification for a geographical indication relating to a geographical area in a third country.8A third country standard amendment shall also be considered a third country temporary amendment when it concerns a temporary change in the product specification resulting from the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures by the public authorities of the third country concerned or is linked to natural disasters or adverse weather conditions formally recognised by the competent authorities of the third country concerned.9Non-standard amendments shall be approved by the Secretary of State . The approval procedure shall follow, mutatis mutandis, the procedure laid down in Article 24 and Articles 26 to 30. Applications for non-standard amendments submitted by a third country or by third country producers shall contain proof that the requested amendment complies with the laws applicable in that third country to the protection of geographical indications.10A UK standard amendment and a UK temporary amendment must be approved by the Secretary of State.11.... Third country standard amendments and third country temporary amendments shall be approved in accordance with the law applicable in the third country concerned.12The scrutiny of the application for amendment shall only address the proposed amendment.13An implementing act to which paragraph 14 applies is revoked.14This paragraph applies to an implementing act:aconcerning a decision of the European Commission relating to an application to amend a product specification for a geographical indication protected in the European Union at the time the application was submitted,badopted by the European Commission pursuant to Article 31 of EU Regulation 2019/787 following the procedure referred to in paragraph 4 of that Article, andcincorporated into domestic law by section 3(1) of the EUWA.Words in Art. 31(3)renumbered as Art. 31(8) (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(a) Art. 31(4) renumbered as Art. 31(9) (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(b) Art. 31(5) renumbered as Art. 31(11) (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(c) Art. 31(6) renumbered as Art. 31(12) (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(d)Art. 31(4)-(7) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(g)Art. 31(10) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(j)Art. 31(13)(14) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(l)Word in Art. 31(2)(a) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(e)(i)(aa)Words in Art. 31(2)(a) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(e)(i)(bb)Words in Art. 31(2)(b) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(e)(ii)(aa)Words in Art. 31(2)(b) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(e)(ii)(bb)Word in Art. 31(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(f)Words in Art. 31(8) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(h)(i)Words in Art. 31(8) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(h)(ii)Word in Art. 31(9) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(i)Words in Art. 31(9) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(ii)Word in Art. 31(9) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(iii)Words in Art. 31(11) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(k)(i)Words in Art. 31(11) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(k)(ii)Words in Art. 31(8) inserted (31.12.2020) by The Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1637), regs. 1(7), 28(21)(h)(iii)Words in Art. 31(6)(b) substituted (3.5.2023) by The Secretaries of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for Science, Innovation and Technology, for Business and Trade, and for Culture, Media and Sport and the Transfer of Functions (National Security and Investment Act 2021 etc) Order 2023 (S.I. 2023/424), art. 1(2), Sch. para. 82 (with art. 17)