EN Official Journal of the European Union C 199/19

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2009/C 199/10

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘POMMES DES ALPES DE HAUTE DURANCE’

EC No: FR-PGI-0005-0498-29.09.2005

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

This summary sets out the main elements of the product specification for information purposes.

1. Responsible department in the Member State:

Name: Institut National des Appellations d’Origine et de la Qualité Address: 51 rue d’Anjou 75008 Paris FRANCE Tel. +33 153898000 Fax +33 142255797 E-mail: info@inao.gouv.fr

2. Group:

Name: Association de Promotion des Fruits des Alpes de Haute Durance Address: Maison de l’Entreprise 11 Allée des Genêts 04200 Sisteron FRANCE Tel. +33 0492331839 Fax +33 0492331838 E-mail: assopromofruits.ahd@freesbee.fr Composition: Producers/processors ( X ) Other ( )

Producers, fruit-packing stations, trading companies.

3. Type of product:

Class 1.6. Fruit, vegetables, cereals, whether or not processed

4. Specification:

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)

4.1. Name:

‘Pommes des Alpes de Haute Durance’

4.2. Description:

Fresh fruit (apples) of the Golden Delicious and Gala varieties and their mutants put into cold storage rapidly after picking, picked when ripe, with a guaranteed minimum sugar content (refractometric index of at least 12) and a minimum degree of firmness to ensure ‘crunchiness’.

The minimum degree of firmness (kg/cm2) is as follows:

— for Golden Delicious: 5 kg/cm2 where colouration (in terms of the official Golden Delicious colour code produced by the Centre technique interprofessionnel des fruits et légumes — CTIFL) is 3 or less; 4 kg/cm2 where it is over 3,

— for Gala: 6 kg/cm2.

The colouration of the apples, both when they are harvested and when they are marketed, is as follows:

— for Golden Delicious and its mutants, colouration 2 (C3 and C4), 3 (C5 and C6), 4 (C7), in terms of the official Golden Delicious colour code produced by the Centre technique interprofessionnel des fruits et légumes (CTIFL),

— for Gala and its mutants, between F2 and F4; intensity of red colouration: R2 to R4, in terms of the official Gala colour code produced by the Centre technique interprofessionnel des fruits et légumes (CTIFL), where F corresponds to the scale for the basic colour and R to the intensity of the red colouration.

4.3. Geographical area:

The production area for the fruit is in the Alpes de Haute-Durance and is made up of six cantons in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department and thirteen in the Hautes-Alpes at altitudes of between 450 m and 900 m; these are:

Department of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: La Motte, Le Lauzet, Seyne, Sisteron, Turriers and Noyers-sur-Jabron,

Department of the Hautes-Alpes: Aspres-sur-Büech, Barcillonnette, La Bâtie-Neuve, Chorges, Embrun, Gap, Laragne, Orpierre, Ribiers, Savines, Serres, Tallard and Veynes.

4.4. Proof of origin:

Fruit-packing stations approved under the PGI scheme must demonstrate that they can ensure traceability, by means of:

— identifying batches after picking,

— knowing which batches make up each pallet sent out and where they are going,

— withdrawing batches that do not conform to standard,

— for each PGI-labelled apple, proving geographical origin and compliance with all rules in the specification,

— in the event of a complaint, tracing back the batch from which the fruit came.

The above is achieved as follows:

Producers are approved by the control body after checks on their land parcel, the varieties they grow and their compliance with the specification. The register of approved producers and parcels is updated and published every year by the producer organisations (POs) or the producers themselves at the start of the production season.

Labelling of pallet boxes or crates

The label contains the following information:

— the producer,

— the variety,

— the date of picking,

— the parcel and possibly the batch number, if the parcel has to be split into several batches.

Identification and tracing of batches

Batches can be identified at any point in the packaging chain, with markers showing the start and end of each batch.

Control of information

Packing stations manage and maintain information on delivery dates, destinations, calibre, category and weights of PGI apples.

The same applies to information as to the origin (producer, parcel) of batches in storage, dates of picking and the number of the cold-room in which the fruit is stored.

4.5. Method of production:

The producers have mastered the methods for growing the fruit and knowing when it should be picked:

— Growing methods: — Pruning and thinning out: pruning is carried out so as to ensure maximum light exposure and select the best branches for bearing fruit. Thinning-out is done chemically and/or manually so that the load is compatible with the balance of the tree. — Fertilisation: Fertiliser use must be kept within reasonable limits in line with the strength of the orchard's rootstock. It is subject to the following annual limits: — for type 106 rootstocks: 80 units of nitrogen, 70 units of phosphoric acid and 140 units of potash, — for type 9 rootstocks: 140 units of nitrogen, 70 units of phosphoric acid and 140 units of potash. Nitrogen use must be limited to 50 units at a time. — Plant-health treatments: it is prohibited to use pest-control products intensively and systematically under a pre-established programme. — Harvest: the apples are picked when they are fairly ripe but can still ripen further so that they are in ideal condition by the time they reach to the consumer. The starch test is used. Harvesting may not begin before stage 4 (EUROFRU starch code), i.e. the start of starch regression, for the Golden Delicious and Gala varieties. The apples are put into cold storage quickly after picking and no more than two hours after loading at the orchard.

4.6. Link:

(a) Particular climatic and soil conditions in the geographical area and specific characteristics of the product

The quality of apples from this region (high sugar content, firmness and colouration) is intimately linked to the characteristics of the growing environment, especially the climate in the Alpes de Haute Durance, where there are 300 days of sunshine a year on average. As E. Vernet wrote in 1933, ‘a wide range of altitudes, permeable and irrigable soil, the intense light and a cold, dry winter — these are the reasons why the Hautes-Alpes are so ideally suited to fruit production’, adding that this produces apples with ‘a flavour and a colour that bear comparison with fruit from the Tyrol and Switzerland’.

The exposure to the sun makes for better photosynthesis in the leaves, thus increasing the sugar content. Very wide variations in temperature between day and night, along with moderate maximum temperatures in the daytime, mean that photosynthesis is sustained, which tends to encourage the accumulation of sugar. The fruit ripens at a time when it is relatively cold and this blocks the degradation of acids, while the wide temperature variations encourage yellowing/reddening and firmness. Also, the fact that the nights are so cool at these altitudes means that the apples’ malic acidity level degrades more slowly, this produces a sugar/acidity balance ideally suited to conservation and the remarkable organoleptic qualities linked to the geographical area (taste, crunchiness).

(b) Public recognition and reputation

Apples have been produced in the Haute Durance region, to the north of Sisteron, for hundreds of years. E. Vernet (1933) refers to a transaction as long ago as 1358 which involved a number of ‘fruits of the earth’, of which ‘apples are the foremost’. Later, in the early 19th century, apples emerged as a speciality of the mountainous areas in Provence. It seems that the apple really started to come to prominence around the 1930s. The orchards were to be found first of all on the hillsides and also in some small production areas higher up. In the mountains, the apples ripen later on in the autumn. In addition, the conditions in winter are such that they can be kept exposed to the open air, which used to be the only form of storage. Motte-au-Caire is one example of this in the geographical area.

In 1962, it was stated in a Ministry of Agriculture publication entitled The Orchards of the Hautes-Alpes that, by virtue of the particular characteristics of the climate and the soil that are referred to above, ‘the quality of our fruit, both visually and in terms of taste, has always surprised the experts and drawn the appreciation of consumers’. The qualities of the ‘Pommes des Alpes de Haute Durance’ were thus recognised by insiders and consumers alike and, as stressed by F. Alavoine-Mornas and A. Trimouille (1995), there were no doubts in the sector as to the existence of an area of apple production in the Haute Durance region.

Nowadays, and since 1996, the Alpes de Haute Durance fruit promotion board and all packagers use the term ‘Pommes des Alpes de Haute Durance’ in all their packaging and brand names, as well as in promotional material and advertising.

4.7. Inspection body:

Name: Ulase Address: ZA de Champgrand, BP 68 26270 Loriol sur Drôme FRANCE Tel. +33 0475611300 Fax +33 0475856212 E-mail: info@ulase.fr

COFRAC accreditation No 7-007/97.

4.8. Labelling:

Each tray or individual fruit sold to the consumer carries the standardisation label in accordance with the marketing rules in Regulation (EC) No 85/2004, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1238/2005, identifying in particular the packager and/or supplier, the variety and category of the fruit, the packing station and the batch number.

Any changes to the label must be approved by the Certifying Body.