None of the regulatory provisions cited specifically lists the criteria to be considered when determining whether to declare protection; from these provisions, it is, however, possible to establish the following:
(a) The appellation does not necessarily have to be the name of a particular country, region or place (Article 201);
(b) the appellation must refer to a specific geographical area (Article 201);
(c) the appellation must be used to designate a product originating in that area (Article 201);
(d) the quality, reputation, or other characteristics of the product must be exclusively or essentially attributable to the geographical environment in which it is produced, including both natural and human factors (Article 201);
(e) appellations must not incur any of the grounds for refusal expressly set forth in Article 202, i.e:
• be inconsistent with the definition in Article 201;
• be common or generic terms that distinguish the product concerned, namely, terms considered as such both by persons with knowledge of the area concerned and by the general public; be contrary to good morals or to public order; or be liable to mislead the public as to the geographical origin, nature, method of manufacture, or the quality, reputation or other characteristics of the products concerned.
(f) Protection may be declared ex officio by the competent national office, which in Colombia is the Supervisory Authority for Industry and Trade (Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio) (Article 203 of Decision 486 establishing the Andean industrial property regime and Article 29 of Decree No. 2153 of 1992 restructuring the Supervisory Authority for Industry and Trade);
(g) The declaration may be made at the request of a party with a legitimate interest therein, i.e. any of the following (Article 203)10:
• Natural or legal persons directly engaged in the extraction, production or processing of the product that is to be protected;
• associations of producers; and
• State, provincial or municipal authorities in the case of geographical indications from their respective areas.
(h) The declaration must be requested in writing, and the application must include the following (Article 204):
• Name, domicile, place of residence and nationality of the applicant or applicants and proof of their legitimate interest;
• the appellation of origin that is the subject of the declaration;
• the particular geographical area within which the production, extraction or processing of the product to be identified by the appellation of origin takes place;
• the products identified by the appellation of origin; and
• a description of the qualities, reputation or other essential characteristics of the products identified by the appellation of origin.