Case C‑367/17
S
v
EA and Others
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Bundespatentgericht)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling— Agriculture— Regulation (EC) No510/2006— Article4(2)(e)— Regulation (EU) No1151/2012— Article7(1)(e)— Protection of geographical indications and designations of origin— Application to amend the product specification— Ham originating from the Black Forest, Germany (‘Schwarzwälder Schinken’)— Requirements to package in the area of production— Applicability of Regulation (EC) No510/2006 or of Regulation (EU) No1151/2012)
Agriculture— Uniform legislation— Protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs— product covered by a protected geographical indication— requirement to package the product in its geographical area of production— Lawfulness— Conditions— Proportionality— Verification by the national court
(European Parliament and Council Regulation No1151/2012, Art. 7(1)(e); Council Regulation No510/2006, Art. 4(2)(e); Commission Regulation 1898/8, Art. 8)
Article4(2)(e) of Council Regulation (EC) No510/2006 of 20March 2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs, in conjunction with Article8 of Commission Regulation (EC) No1898/2006 of 14December 2006 laying down detailed rules of implementation of Regulation No510/2006, and Article7(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) No1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, must be interpreted as meaning that the requirement to package a product covered by a protected geographical indication in its geographical area of production is justified, under Article4(2)(e), if it constitutes a necessary and proportionate means to safeguard the quality of the product, to guarantee its origin or to ensure the verification of the specification of the protected geographical indication. It is for the national court to assess whether that requirement is duly justified by one of the objectives mentioned above, regarding the protected geographical indication ‘Schwarzwälder Schinken’.
(see para 36, operative part)