1.For the purposes of Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, applications for approval of a standard amendment to a product specification shall be submitted to the authorities of the Member State in whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located. If the application for approval of a standard amendment to a product specification does not come from the applicant group that had submitted the application for protection of the name or names to which the product specification refers, the Member State shall give that applicant group the opportunity to comment on the application, if that applicant group still exists.
The application for approval of a standard amendment shall provide a description of the standard amendments and demonstrate that the proposed amendments qualify as standard in accordance with Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. A summary of the reasons for which the amendments are required shall also be provided.
2.Where the Member State considers that the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and of the provisions adopted pursuant to that Regulation are met, it may approve the standard amendment. The approval decision shall include the amended consolidated product specification and, where relevant, the amended consolidated single document or shall include the electronic reference to the published version of the consolidated product specification and, where relevant, single document.
The approval decision shall be made public. The approved standard amendment shall be applicable in the Member State concerned from the date on which the approval decision was made public. The Member State shall communicate approved standard amendments to the Commission not later than 1 month following the date on which the national approval decision was made public. The Member State shall communicate, without undue delay, to the Commission any final and unappealable national judgments annulling a decision approving a standard amendment.
3.Decisions approving standard amendments concerning products originating in third countries shall be communicated to the Commission by an applicant group having a legitimate interest, either directly or via the authorities of the third country concerned, not later than 1 month following the date on which the relevant decision was made public.
4.The communication of an approved standard amendment to the Commission shall be considered to be duly made when it complies with Article 10a of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014.
5.In the event that the standard amendment implies an amendment of the single document, the Commission shall publish the description of the standard amendment and the amended single document in theOfficial Journal of the European Union, C series, within 3 months from the date on which it has received the communication of that standard amendment.
In the event that the standard amendment does not imply an amendment of the single document, the Commission shall make public, via the digital systems referred to in Article 12(1), first subparagraph, point (a), of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014, the description of the standard amendment within 3 months from the date on which it has received the communication of that standard amendment.
The national authority referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 or the applicant group referred to in paragraph 3 that communicated a standard amendment to the Commission shall remain responsible for its content.
6.Standard amendments shall be applicable in the territory of the Union from the date on which they were published pursuant to paragraph 5, first subparagraph, or made public pursuant to paragraph 5, second subparagraph.
7.Where the geographical area covers more than one Member State, each Member State concerned shall apply the procedure for standard amendments separately. The standard amendment shall be applicable in the territory of the Member States concerned only after the last national approval decision becomes applicable. The Member State being the last to approve the standard amendment shall send the Commission the relevant communication not later than 1 month following the date on which its approval decision was made public.
If one or more of the Member States concerned do not adopt the national approval decision referred to in the first subparagraph, any of the Member States concerned may submit that application under the Union amendment procedure.
8.Paragraph 7 shall applymutatis mutandiswhere a part of the geographical area concerned is located in the territory of a third country.