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1. Producer groups shall operate in a transparent, open and non-discriminatory manner and in a manner that allows all producers of the product designated by a geographical indication to join the producer group at any point in time. Member States may provide that public bodies, and other stakeholders such as consumer groups, retailers and suppliers, can also participate in the work of a producer group.

2. Producer groups shall ensure that producers within the group continuously comply with the corresponding product specification when using the protected geographical indication and Union symbol in the market. A producer group may, in particular, exercise the following rights and carry out the following tasks:

(a) prepare and amend the product specification and set up internal compliance checks to ensure that the production steps are compliant with the product specification;

(b) take legal action to ensure the protection of the geographical indication and of any other intellectual property right that is directly connected with the product;

(c) agree to undertake commitments with regard to sustainability, whether or not included in the product specification or as a separate initiative;

(d) take measures to improve the performance of the geographical indication, including:

(i) designing, organising and carrying out collective marketing and advertising campaigns;

(ii) dissemination of information and undertaking promotional activities, for the purpose of communicating to consumers the attributes of the product designated by the geographical indication;

(iii) carrying out analyses of the economic performance, sustainability of production and technical characteristics of the product designated by the geographical indication;

(iv) dissemination of information on the geographical indication and the Union symbol; and (v) providing advice and training to existing and future producers, including on gender mainstreaming and equality;

(e) combat counterfeiting and suspected fraudulent uses in the internal market of a geographical indication for a product that is not in compliance with the product specification, by monitoring the use of the geographical indication across the internal market and in third-country markets where that geographical indication is protected, including on online interfaces, and, where necessary, by informing enforcement authorities;

(f) develop activities to ensure that the product designated by the geographical indication is compliant with the product specification; and (g) take any other action to ensure that the geographical indication benefits from adequate legal protection, including, where appropriate, by notifying the competent authorities, in accordance with Article 51(5), Article 52(3) and Article 54(2).