Chapter IV of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 lays down the general rules for protecting the designations of origin and geographical indications of certain wine sector products.

To ensure that Community-registered designations of origin and geographical indications meet the conditions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, applications should be examined by the national authorities of the Member State concerned, in the context of a preliminary national objection procedure. Subsequent checks should be carried out to ensure that applications meet the conditions laid down by this Regulation, that the approach is uniform across the Member States and that registrations of designations of origin and geographical indications do not harm third parties. Consequently, the detailed implementing rules on application, examination, objection and cancellation procedures for the designations of origin and geographical indications of certain wine sector products should be established.

The conditions in which a natural or legal person may apply for registration should be defined. Particular attention should be paid to defining the area concerned, taking into account the production zone and the characteristics of the product. Any producer established in the demarcated geographical area should be able to use the registered name provided the conditions laid down in the product specification are met. The demarcation of the area should be detailed, precise and unambiguous so that producers, the competent authorities and the control bodies can ascertain whether operations are being carried out within the demarcated geographical area.

Specific rules should be established concerning the registration of designations of origin and geographical indications.

The fact of restricting the packaging of a wine sector product with a designation of origin or a geographical indication, or operations connected with the presentation of the product, to a defined geographical area constitutes a restriction on the free movement of goods and freedom to provide services. In the light of the case-law of the Court of Justice, such restrictions may be imposed only if they are necessary, proportionate and suitable to protecting the reputation of the designation of origin or geographical indication. Any restriction should be duly justified from the point of view of the free movement of goods and the freedom to provide services.

Provisions should be made concerning the condition relating to the production in the demarcated area. Indeed, a limited number of derogations exists in the Community.

The details bearing out the link with the characteristics of the geographical area and their influence on the final product should also be defined.

Entry in a Community register of designations of origin and geographical indications should also provide those involved in the trade and consumers with information. In order to ensure that it is accessible to all, it should be available electronically.

In order to preserve the particular character of wines with protected designations of origin and geographical indications and to approximate the legislation of the Member States with a view to establishing a level playing field for competition within the Community, a Community legal framework governing checks on such wines, with which the specific provisions adopted by the Member States must comply, should be laid down. Such checks should make it possible to improve the traceability of the products in question and to specify the aspects which checks must cover. In order to prevent distortions of competition, checks should be carried out on an ongoing basis by independent bodies.

In order to ensure that Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 is implemented in a consistent manner, models should be drawn up for applications, objections, amendments and cancellations.

Chapter V of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 lays down the general rules regarding the use of protected traditional terms in connection with certain wine sector products.

The use, regulation and protection of certain terms (other than designations of origin and geographical indications) to describe wine sector products is a long-established practice in the Community. Such traditional terms evoke in the minds of consumers a production or ageing method or a quality, colour or type of place or a particular event linked to the history of the wine. So as to ensure fair competition and avoid misleading consumers, a common framework should be laid down regarding the definition, the recognition, protection and use of such traditional terms.

The use of traditional terms on third countries’ products is allowed provided they fulfil the same or equivalent conditions to those required from Member States in order to ensure that consumers are not misled. Furthermore, given that several third countries do not have the same level of centralised rules as the community legal system, some requirements for ‘representative professional organisations’ of third countries should be laid down to ensure the same guarantees as those provided for in the Community rules.

Chapter VI of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 lays down the general rules for the labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products.

Certain rules on the labelling of foodstuffs are laid down in First Council Directive 89/104/EEC2, Council Directive 89/396/EEC of 14 June 1989 on indications or marks identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs3, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council4 and Directive 2007/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 September 2007 laying down rules on nominal quantities for prepacked products5. Those rules also apply to wine sector products, except where expressly excluded by the Directives concerned.

Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 harmonises the labelling for all wine sector products and allows the use of terms other than those expressly covered by Community legislation, provided that they are accurate.

Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 provides for conditions to be laid down for the use of certain terms referring, among others, to the provenance, bottler, producer, importer, etc. For some of these terms, Community rules are necessary for the smooth functioning of the internal market. Such rules should, in general, be based on existing provisions. For other terms, the Member States should lay down the rules for wine produced in their territory — which should be compatible with Community law — so as to allow for those rules to be adopted as close as possible to the producer. The transparency of such rules should nevertheless be assured.

To assist consumers, certain mandatory information should be grouped in a single visual field on the container, tolerance limits should be set for the indication of the actual alcoholic strength and account should be taken of the specific character of the products concerned.

The existing rules on the use of indications or marks on labelling identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs have proved useful and should therefore be retained.

Terms referring to the organic production of grapes are governed solely by Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products6 and apply to all wine sector products.

The use of lead-based capsules to cover the closing devices of containers holding products covered by Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 should continue to be banned, in order to avoid any risk, firstly, of contamination, in particular by accidental contact with such capsules and, secondly, of environmental pollution from waste containing lead from such capsules.

In the interests of product traceability and transparency, new rules on ‘indication of provenance’ should be introduced.

The use of indications relating to wine grape varieties and vintage year for wines without designation of origin and geographical indications require specific implementing rules.

The use of certain types of bottle for certain products is a long-established practice in the Community and third countries. Such bottles can evoke certain characteristics or a certain origin of products in the minds of consumers due to their long-established use. Such bottles types should therefore be reserved for the wines in question.

The rules for labelling third-country wine sector products circulating on the Community market should also be harmonised as far as possible with the approach laid down for Community wine sector products in order to avoid misleading consumers and unfair competition for producers. However, consideration should be given to the differences in production conditions, winemaking traditions and legislation in third countries.

In view of the differences between products covered by this Regulation and their markets, and the expectations of consumers, the rules should be differentiated according to the products concerned, in particular as far as certain optional particulars used for wines without protected designation of origin and geographical indication which nevertheless bear wine grapes varieties’ names and vintage years if they conform with a certification accreditation (so-called ‘varietal wines’). Therefore, in order to distinguish, within the category of wines without PDO/PGI, those which fall under the sub-category ‘varietal wines’ from those which do not benefit from this openness, specific rules on the use of optional particulars, should be established on one hand for wines with protected designations of origin and geographical indications, and on the other hand for wines without protected designation of origin and geographical indication, bearing in mind that also covers ‘varietal wines’.

Measures to ease the transition from the previous wine sector legislation to this Regulation (notably Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine7) should be adopted, so as to avoid unnecessary burdens on operators. In order to allow economic operators established in the Community and in third countries to comply with the labelling requirements, a transitional adaptation period should be granted. Therefore, provisions should be enacted to ensure that products labelled in accordance with the existing rules may continue to be marketed during a transitional period.

Due to administrative burdens, certain Member States are not able to introduce the laws, regulation, or administrative provisions necessary to comply with Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 by 1 August 2009. In order to ensure that economic operators and competent authorities are not prejudiced by this deadline, a transitional period should be granted and transitional provisions should be established.

The provisions of this Regulation should be without prejudice to any specific rules negotiated under agreements with third countries concluded under the procedure provided for in Article 133 of the Treaty.

The new detailed rules for the implementation of Chapters IV, V and VI of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 should replace the existing legislation, implementing Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1607/2000 of 24 July 2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine in particular the Title relating to quality wine produced in specified regions8 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine sector products9 should therefore be repealed.

Article 128 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 repeals the existing Council legislation in the wine sector, including that dealing with aspects covered by this Regulation. In order to avoid any trade difficulties, to allow a smooth transition for the economic operators and a reasonable period for Member States to adopt a number of implementing measures, transitional periods need to be established.

The detailed rules provided for in this Regulation should apply as from the same date as that on which Chapters IV, V and VI of Title III of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 apply.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,