Competent authorities of Member States or third countries or representative professional organisations established in third countries may submit to the Commission an application for protection of traditional terms within the meaning of Article 54(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008.

‘Representative professional organisation’ shall mean any producer organisation or association of producer organisations having adopted the same rules, operating in a given or more wine designation of origin or geographical indication area(s) where it includes in its membership at least two thirds of the producers in the designation of origin or geographical indication area(s) in which it operates and accounts for at least two thirds of that areas’ production. A representative professional organisation may lodge an application for protection only for wines which it produces.

The application for protection of a traditional term shall conform to the model set out in Annex VII and shall be accompanied by a copy of the rules regulating the use of the term concerned.

In case of an application filed by a representative professional organisation established in a third country, the details of the representative professional organisation shall also be communicated. This information, including relevant details of members of the representative professional organisation, as appropriate, is listed in Annex XI.

The term shall be registered with its original spelling(s).

Article 54(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 applies mutatis mutandis to terms traditionally used in third countries in connection with wine sector products with geographical indications of the third countries concerned.

Wines originating in third countries whose labels bear traditional indications other than the traditional terms listed in Annex XII, may use these traditional indications on wine labels in accordance with the rules applicable in the third countries concerned, including those emanating from representative professional organisations.