64 WINE LAW processing and distribution”. Thus, it states a fundamental and inherent element of designations of origin and constitutes most telling evidence of their publiclaw nature. All that we have claimed so far – and all that will be claimed in the future – in the matter of public responsibility of designations of origin and their character is fairly linked to the type of public oversight upon them. In other words, the checks and balances system on the part of national or regional guarantees public approval of their quality to all those submitting voluntarily to it. The credibility of public checks overlaps – or is added to – the business know-how; here lies the relevance of such checks, amended on various occasions so that their credibility takes hold and, in turn, the designations system itself. The significance of this verification and supervision was the focus of Special Report No 11/2011 of the European Court of Auditors, approved in July 2011 (prior to the new Regulation), entitled Do the design and management of the geographical indications scheme allow it to be effective?. It was premised on the geographical indications system aiming to protect designations of products registered as PDO or PGI. It warned that “defining a robust system for the Member States’ checks related to the GI scheme and supervising these checks in an adequate manner are essential to achieve this objective”, adding that, “despite the relevance of the protection of registered names against their disallowed use, no provisions are laid down in the Regulation as to what checks (if any) are required from the Member States in order to ensure such protection”. The new Official Controls Regulation 2017/625 has extended the scope for supervision that was regulated by its 2004 predecessor. In that sense, it is explicitly stated it applies to checks aiming at “the verification of compliance with the rules, whether established at Union level or by the Member States, to apply Union legislation” regarding, among other areas, the “use and labelling of protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed” [art. 1(2)(j)]. This explicit extension does not prevent the new Regulation from providing some “specific rules” on checks for designations of origin (art. 26), which effectively entails enabling the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts that supplement the general rules of the Regulation50. 50 These delegated and implementing acts are required to detail requirements, procedures and mechanisms of the operation of official controls, as well as the circumstances in which competent authorities should adopt measures against specific non-compliance, specific provisions for the activation of measures of administrative assistance provided for in articles 102-108, or specific notification duties of delegated bodies.
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