Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
marketed under that name in Member States other than the state of origin by
which registration is applied for. Thus as the Commission did not take due
account of all the factors which Art. 3(1) of the basic regulation required it to
take into consideration, the ECJ ruled that the contested regulation had to be
annulled to the extent to which it registered the name 'FETA' as a PDO.
Joined Cases C-465/02 and C-466/02
59
considered an objection by some
Member States to the Commission Regulation adopted following the above
judgment, on 25 May 1999, which deleted the name 'FETA' from the Register
of protected designations of origin and geographical indications.
60
By letter of
15 October 1999, the Commission sent the Member States a questionnaire on
the manufacture and consumption of cheeses known as 'feta' and on how well
known that name was amongst consumers in each of the states. The infor-
mation received in response to that questionnaire was presented to the Scien-
tific Committee, which gave its unanimous opinion on 24 April 2001 that the
name 'feta' was not generic in nature. On 14 October 2002 the Commission
adopted a regulation under which the name '
3.87
Φ
|Aa
ΕΤΑ
' ('FETA') was once
again registered as a PDO.
61
In its consideration of the objections to the regulation by Germany, Denmark,
France and the UK, the ECJ noted that it was common ground in the present
proceedings that the term 'feta' was derived from the Italian word meaning
'slice', which had entered the Greek language in the seventeenth century.
62
It
was also common ground that 'feta' was not the name of a region, place or
country within the meaning of Art 2(2)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No
2081/92 and so could not be registered as a designation of origin pursuant to
that provision, but at most could be registered under Art 2(3) of Reg No
2081/92, which extended the definition of designation of origin, in particular,
to certain traditional non-geographical names.
63
3.88
Combining these two provisions, the ECJ observed that the place or region
referred to in Art 2(3) must be defined as a geographical environment with
specific natural and human factors, which is capable of giving an agricultural
product or foodstuff its specific characteristics, and thus the area of origin
3.89
59
Germany v Commission (Agriculture)
[2005] EUECJ C-465/02, [2005] ECR I-9115, [2006] ETMR 16.
60
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1070/1999 of 25 May 1999 amending the Annex to Regulation (EC) No
1107/96 (OJ 1999 L 130, p. 18).
61
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1829/2002 of 14 October 2002 amending the Annex to Regulation (EC) No
1107/96 with regard to the name 'Feta' (OJ 2002 L 277, p. 10).
62
[2005] EUECJ C-465/02 at para 46.
63
Article 2(3) of Reg No 2081/92 provided: 'Certain traditional geographical or non-geographical names
designating an agricultural product or a foodstuff originating in a region or a specific place, which fulfil the
conditions referred to in the second indent of paragraph 2(a) shall also be considered as designations of origin.'
