COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION (EU) 2023/1561

of 26 July 2023

rejecting an application for protection of a geographical indication in accordance with Article 52(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ (PDO))

(notified under document C(2023) 4903)

(Only the English text is authentic)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (1), and in particular Article 52(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In accordance with Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission has examined the application for registration of the name ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ as protected designation of origin (PDO), submitted by Armenia on 11 July 2016 (PDO-AM-2164).

(2) Following the scrutiny, the Commission sent a notice of comments on 13 December 2016 and on 7 September 2017 requesting clarification of some of the aspects of the file. Due to lack of reply to the last notice the Commission sent a reminder on 24 January 2022. The applicant did not reply.

(3) On the basis of the information the Commission had in its possession, the Commission concluded that the application does not fulfil the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and informed the applicant, by the letter of 20 December 2022, that if no observations have been received within 2 months of receipt of the letter, it intends to launch the procedure for the adoption of a formal Commission decision rejecting the application pursuant to Article 52(1) of that Regulation.

(4) In accordance with Article 4 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 (2) the product specification for a PDO is to identify the procedures which operators must have in place as regards the proof of origin of the product, raw materials, feed and other items that, according to the product specification, are required to come from the defined geographical area.

The operators are to be able to identify: (a) the supplier, quantity, and origin of all batches of raw material and/or products received; (b) the recipient, quantity and destination of products supplied; (c) the correlation between each batch of inputs referred to in point (a) and each batch of outputs referred to in point (b).

As regards the evidence that the product originates in the defined geographical area, the specification of ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ mentions only ‘Red Book of Armenia’ without any other explanations. The Commission concluded that this is not sufficient to show the procedure to ensure the origin as required by that Article 4.

(5) According to Article 7(1), first subparagraph, point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, ‘the principal physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics of the product’ are to be described. The Commission concluded that this requirement is not fulfilled since some essential organoleptic and physical characteristic such as length, smell and taste were not provided in the description of ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’.

(6) According to Article 1(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (3), feed is to be sourced entirely from within the defined geographical area in respect of products of animal origin the name of which is registered as a protected designation of origin. Insofar as sourcing entirely from within the defined geographical area is not technically practicable, feed sourced from outside that area can be added, provided that the product quality or characteristic essentially due to the geographical environment are not affected. Feed sourced from outside the defined geographical area is in no case to exceed 50 % of dry matter on annual basis. The Commission concluded that these requirements are not fulfilled since the specification of ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ does not explain whether entire sourcing of feed from within the defined geographical area is not technically practicable and does not show that the product quality and characteristics that are due to the geographical environment are not affected by using feed from outside the defined geographical area.

(7) The applicant did not reply to the observations of the Commission within the set deadline.

(8) In the light of the above the Commission considers that the application for registration ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ as PDO does not fulfil the requirements laid down in Article 7(1), first subparagraph, point (b), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, Article 4 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 and Article 1(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014.

(9) The application for protection of the name ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ as PDO should therefore be rejected.

(10) The rejection decision is strictly related to the registration of this name under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. It is without prejudice to the protection of the name ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ under the bilateral agreement between Armenia and the Union.

(11) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Agricultural Product Quality Policy Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The application for registration of the name ‘ՍԵՒԱՆԻ ԻՇԽԱՆ/sevani ishkhan’ as protected designation of origin (PDO) is rejected.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Armenian Intellectual Property Office, Government House 3, Central Avenue, 375010 Yerevan, Armenia.

Done at Brussels, 26 July 2023.

For the Commission

Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI

Member of the Commission

(1)  

OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1

.

(2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 of 13 June 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (

OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 36

).

(3)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 of 18 December 2013 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the establishment of the Union symbols for protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed and with regard to certain rules on sourcing, certain procedural rules and certain additional transitional rules (

OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17

).