Article 5

Only a group shall be entitled to apply for registration. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘group’ means any association, irrespective of its legal form or composition, of producers or processors working with the same agricultural product or foodstuff. Other interested parties may participate in the group. A natural or legal person may be treated as a group in accordance with the detailed rules referred to in Article 16(c). In the case of a name designating a trans-border geographical area or a traditional name connected to a trans-border geographical area, several groups may lodge a joint application in accordance with the detailed rules referred to in Article 16(d). A group may lodge a registration application only for the agricultural products or foodstuffs which it produces or obtains. The application for registration shall include at least: the name and address of the applicant group; the specification provided for in Article 4; a single document setting out the following: the main points of the specification: the name, a description of the product, including, where appropriate, specific rules concerning packaging and labelling, and a concise definition of the geographical area, a description of the link between the product and the geographical environment or geographical origin referred to in Article 2(1)(a) or (b), as the case may be, including, where appropriate, the specific elements of the product description or production method justifying the link. Where the registration application relates to a geographical area in a given Member State, the application shall be addressed to that Member State. The Member State shall scrutinise the application by appropriate means to check that it is justified and meets the conditions of this Regulation. As part of the scrutiny referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4, the Member State shall initiate a national objection procedure ensuring adequate publication of the application and providing for a reasonable period within which any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest and established or resident on its territory may lodge an objection to the application. The Member State shall consider the admissibility of objections received in the light of the criteria referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 7(3). If the Member State considers that the requirements of this Regulation are met, it shall take a favourable decision and forward to the Commission the documents referred to in paragraph 7 for a final decision. If not, the Member State shall decide to reject the application. The Member State shall ensure that its favourable decision is made public and that any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest has means of appeal. The Member State shall ensure that the version of the specification on which its favourable decision is based is published, and assure electronic access to the specification. The Member State may, on a transitional basis only, grant protection under this Regulation at national level to the name, and, where appropriate, an adjustment period, with effect from the date on which the application is lodged with the Commission. The adjustment period provided for in the first subparagraph may be granted only on condition that the undertakings concerned have legally marketed the products in question, using the names concerned continuously for at least the past five years and have made that point in the national objection procedure referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 5. Such transitional national protection shall cease on the date on which a decision on registration under this Regulation is taken. The consequences of such transitional national protection, where a name is not registered under this Regulation, shall be the sole responsibility of the Member State concerned. The measures taken by Member States under the first subparagraph shall produce effects at national level only, and they shall have no effect on intra-Community or international trade. In respect of any favourable decision as referred to in the third subparagraph of paragraph 5, the Member State concerned shall forward to the Commission: the name and address of the applicant group; the single document referred to in paragraph 3(c); a declaration by the Member State that it considers that the application lodged by the group and qualifying for the favourable decision meets the conditions of this Regulation and the provisions adopted for its implementation; the publication reference of the specification referred to in the fifth subparagraph of paragraph 5. Member States shall introduce the laws, regulations or administrative provisions necessary to comply with paragraphs 4 to 7 not later than 31 March 2007. Where the registration application concerns a geographical area situated in a third country, it shall comprise the elements provided for in paragraph 3 and also proof that the name in question is protected in its country of origin. The application shall be sent to the Commission, either directly or via the authorities of the third country concerned. The documents referred to in this Article sent to the Commission shall be in one of the official languages of the institutions of the European Union or accompanied by a certified translation in one of those languages.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.