Article 31Amendment to a product specification
1.Any 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.
2.Amendments to a product specification shall be classified into two categories as regards their importance:
(a)Union amendments requiring an opposition procedure at Union level;
(b)standard amendments to be dealt with at Member State or third country level.
3.An amendment shall be considered a Union amendment if it:
(a)includes a change in the name or any part of the name of the geographical indication registered under this Regulation;
(b)consists of a change of the legal name or the category of the spirit drink;
(c)risks voiding the given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the spirit drink that is essentially attributable to its geographical origin; or
(d)entails further restrictions on the marketing of the product.
Any other amendments shall be considered standard amendments.
A standard amendment shall also be considered a 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 or is linked to natural disasters or adverse weather conditions formally recognised by the competent authorities.
4.Union amendments shall be approved by the Commission. The approval procedure shall follow, mutatis mutandis, the procedure laid down in Article 24 and Articles 26 to 30. Applications for Union 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.
5.Standard amendments shall be approved by the Member State in whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located. As regards third countries, amendments shall be approved in accordance with the law applicable in the third country concerned.
6.The scrutiny of the application for amendment shall only address the proposed amendment.