Action brought on 23 July 2010 - Consorzio del vino nobile di Montepulciano and Others v Commission

(Case T-318/10)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicants: Consorzio del vino nobile di Montepulciano (Montepulciano, Italy), Contucci di Alamanno Contucci & C. Società Agricola Sas (Montepulciano, Italy), Villa S. Anna Società Semplice Agricola di Fabroni Anna S. E M. Società Semplice (Montepulciano, Italy), Il Conventino Società Agricola per Azioni (Montepulciano, Italy) (represented by: D. Dodaro, S. Cianciullo, G. Brini and G. Nazzi, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

Declare that the contested regulation is invalid or inapplicable, or in any event annul the amendment made by it to Annex XV to Commission Regulation (EC) No 607/2009, in so far as it incorrectly identifies the technical error to be corrected as merely the inclusion of the 'Montepulciano' grape variety denomination in Part B of that annex, applying the system of derogations under Article 62(3) and (4) of Regulation 607/09 to the protected designation of origin 'Vino Nobile di Montepulciano', without having regard to the specific nature of that designation.

In the alternative, declare that the contested regulation is invalid or inapplicable, or in any event annul the amendment made by it to Annex XV, in so far as, in order to move the 'Montepulciano' grape variety denomination to part A of that annex for the purposes of Article 62(3) of Regulation (EC) 607/2009, which relates to grape names which consist of or contain a protected designation of origin, the contested regulation indentified the protected designation of origin as the single word 'Montepulciano', deleting the traditional term 'Vino Nobilie di', which has formed an essential part of the designation since it was recognised.

Order the European Commission to pay the costs of the present proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The present action is directed against Regulation No 401/2010, ¹ in so far as, by adopting that regulation in order to correct the error of including the 'Montepulciano' variety name in Part B of Annex XV to Regulation No 607/2009, ² the Commission moved the name to Part 'A' of Annex XV and at the same time deleted the traditional term 'Vino Nobile di Montepulciano' from the first column of the table in the annex.

In so doing, the defendant categorised as the mere movement of text a substantive change which has a much more significant effect than that permitted by the scope of Article 62(3) of Regulation No 607/2009. The defendant thereby also manifestly misused its powers, using that provision inappropriately for purposes beyond those pursued by it, to the detriment of producers of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Consorzio del Vino Nobile and, generally, to that of consumers and the market.

The applicants also allege infringement of Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement. In that connection, it is submitted that the surreptitious deletion of the traditional term 'Vino Nobile' from the protected designation of origin 'Vino Nobile di Montepulciano' is not a sufficient or appropriate measure for pursuing the aims set out in the TRIPS Agreement, since it increases the likelihood of confusion, in particular on the part of Community consumers who are not Italian, who would be easily misled by labelling which makes no distinction as to the use of the term 'Montepulciano'. Thus, there would be an insufficiently clear distinction between the various products designated by that term, when used either as an indication of provenance from the homonymous geographical area without the traditional term, or as an indication of the variety name, preceding rather than following the geographical indication.

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¹ - Commission Regulation (EU) No 401/2010 of 7 May 2010 amending and correcting Regulation (EC) No 607/2009 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 as regards protected designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products (OJ 2010 L 117, p. 13).

² - Commission regulation (EC) No 607/2009 of 14 July 2009 laying down certain detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 as regards protected designations of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector products (OJ 2009 L 193, p. 60).