The National Institute of Viticulture (INV) has issued Resolution No. 19/2012, published in the Official Gazette on May 8, 2012, which repeals Resolution No. 8/2008 and sets forth the conditions to produce wines with a specific Geographical Indication (GI).
The main terms of Resolution No. 19/2012 are as follows:
a) The manufacturer and wineries of the grapes to be used, which manufacture wines with GIs, must first obtain the registration, protection and the right to use such GIs.
b) For inventory purposes, wines with GI will be grouped independently from other wines.
c) Registration in the official records of the raw material and the resulting products will be subject to the following:
- Weekly harvest and manufacturing report (Form CEC-01) and official recordation: the volume of products having GI manufactured per week will be declared in both registries together with the other non-GI products, without discrimination.
- The final sworn declaration of manufacture (Form CEC-05) will be made in the ordinary way without discriminating against the obtained products that have the right to use a GI.
d) Every time an interested party wishes to obtain the analysis of free circulation, export or the transfer of a determined volume with GI, must previously certify (Form MV-05) the transfer of the volume of the GI in question, electronically. Afterwards, the interested party must identify the product with the corresponding GI.
e) The transfer of products identified with GI must be done with the corresponding analysis; otherwise they will not be accepted.
f) Products with a GI coming from a geographical area smaller than a department will be excluded from complying with the minimum alcoholic grade fixed for the period.
g) Wines involving different GIs will determine the loss of the right to use them in the commercial marketing of the product. In this case, the product may be identified with a broader GI, comprising the original ones, and Form MV-05 must be filed.
h) The application for certification of a GI shall only be submitted by the manufacturer.
i) Wines with GIs sent to the domestic market must be individually stated in the corresponding section of Form MV-01/C identifying each GI separately, excepting the products with provincial GIs.
Failure to comply with the provisions of Resolution No. 19/2012 in the production and/or manufacturing of products with GI or the infringement of geographical names will be subject to penalties stated in Law No. 25,163 (Protection of Indications of source, Geographical Indications and Appellations of origin used in respect of wines and wine-origin alcoholic beverages).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
