The special commercial value of wines covered by a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication derives from their reputation based on the quality value that consumers attribute to their characteristics. To prevent their quality credentials from being undermined by detrimental price action, interbranch organisations and producer groups managing protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications should, where they are representative in the related geographical area for the different professional categories operating in the wine sector, be able to issue price guidance concerning the sales of the relevant grapes, musts or wines. However, such guidance should be non-mandatory, in order to prevent excessive restriction of price competition within the same geographical indication. Moreover, as an additional safeguard, the relevant national competition authority should be allowed to decide in individual cases to modify or discontinue price guidance indicators if necessary to prevent competition being excluded or the jeopardising of the objectives set out in Article 39 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
