EN Official Journal of the European Union C 57/19

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2013/C 57/09

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (1)

‘PRÉS-SALÉS DU MONT-SAINT-MICHEL’

EC No: FR-PDO-0005-0813-25.06.2010

PGI ( ) PDO ( X )

1. Name:

‘Prés-salés du Mont-Saint-Michel’

2. Member State or Third Country:

France

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Type of product:

Class 1.1. Fresh meat (and offal)

3.2. Description of product to which the name in (1) applies:

Meat bearing the ‘Prés-salés du Mont-Saint-Michel’ designation of origin is obtained from lambs which are up to 12 months old and which feed on maritime pasture, which gives them their distinctive features. These lambs are the offspring of rams of the following breeds: ‘Suffolk’, ‘Roussin’, ‘Rouge de l’Ouest’, ‘Vendéen’, ‘Cotentin’, ‘Avranchin’, ‘Charollais’, or of rams born of mothers reared by breeders entitled to use salt marshes as pasturage. The breeding females are the offspring of ewes which were reared in the geographical area by breeders using salt marshes as pasturage.

Their carcasses have the following features:

— minimum weight: 14 kg,

— slim carcass profile: ‘straight to subconcave profile’ and ‘good to generous muscle development’ (classes U, R and O on the EUROP grading scale),

— fat cover: slightly to well covered (class 2 or 3 on the EUROP grading scale),

— firm, white to creamy-white external and internal fat, spread evenly around the body.

The meat is offered for sale chilled. It may not be sold thawed and chilled.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only):

—

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only):

The lambs and ewes feed mainly on salt marsh pastures. The lambs are bred over the course of successive periods: the post-natal period, the period of maritime pasture and sometimes a finishing period.

— During the post-natal period, which lasts for at least 45 days and up to a maximum of 105 days after birth, the lambs feed mainly on their mother's milk, sometimes supplemented by powdered milk, fodder or concentrates.

— During the maritime pasturing, which lasts for at least 70 days, the lambs are kept on the salt marshes within specific, independent tracts of pasturage. The animals withdraw to retreat zones when the pastures are flooded. They feed mainly or exclusively on grass (a maximum of 400 g of concentrates per day, served in the evening, can be tolerated on top of grazing).

— During the (optional) finishing period, which lasts for a maximum of 30 or 40 days according to the season and concerns lambs having fed exclusively on grass during the maritime grazing period, the lambs feed on fodder and concentrates and no longer graze on the salt marshes.

In all cases, the maritime pasture period, including grazing in retreat zones on days when the salt marsh is covered by the spring tides, is equal to at least half of the animal’s lifetime.

The fodder consumed by the animals during the various breeding periods comes from the geographical area and consists of fresh grass, grazing grass or grass preserved as hay or haylage with a dry matter content of over 50 %, roots, tubers and vegetables.

It will be forbidden to distribute corn silage as from 1 June 2013.

The concentrates given to the ewes and/or lambs during the various breeding periods are made up of the following ingredients:

— cereals and their products and by-products: barley, corn, wheat, triticale, oats,

— oil seeds and their products and by-products: soya, sunflower, colza and linseed oilcakes, soya beans and husks,

— protein crops: lupin, beans and field beans,

— tubers and roots and their products and by-products: beet pulp,

— fodder: alfalfa, straw,

— molasses: suger-cane molasses,

— additives,

— minerals, vitamins.

100 % of the forage comes from the geographical area, compared to 50 % for the concentrates.

Only plants, co-products and feedstuffs derived from non-transgenic products may be used in the animal feed. No product of animal origin, apart from dairy products, may be added to the lambs' feed.

3.5. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area:

Birth, rearing and slaughter.

3.6. Specific rules on slicing, grating, packaging, etc.:

—

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

At the end of the chilling period carcasses of lambs covered by the designation of origin ‘Prés-salés du Mont-Saint-Michel’ are identified and labelled with a permanent stamp in indelible ink marked ‘Prés-salés MSM’ on the main areas (shoulders, ribs and legs).

Up to the final distribution stage, the carcass and pieces of meat cut from it are accompanied by a label displaying at least:

— the designation,

— the words ‘PDO’ or ‘protected designation of origin’,

— The European Union ‘PDO’ logo,

— the breeder’s name,

— the number of the holding,

— the national identification number of the lamb,

— the date of slaughter,

— the place of slaughter and slaughter number,

— the sentence ‘the meat matures on the bone for at least four full days between the date of slaughter and the date of retail sale to the final consumer’.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The geographical area where the birth, breeding and slaughter of the lambs take place is made up the following 42 cantons, six of which in part belong to the Departments of Manche and Ille et Vilaine:

Department of Manche: All of the municipalities belonging to the cantons of Avranches, Barneville-Carteret, Beaumont-Hague, Bréhal, Bricquebec, Cherbourg-Octeville, Cherbourg-Octeville-Sud-Ouest, Coutances, Ducey, Equeurdreville-Hainneville, Granville, la Haye-Pesnel, Isigny-le-Buat, Jullouville, Lessay, Montmartin-sur-Mer, Les Pieux, Pontorson, Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët, Saint-James, Saint-Malo-de-la-Lande, Saint-Ovin, Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, Sartilly, Tourlaville, Valognes and Vesly. All of the municipalities of the Haye-du-Puits canton except the municipalities of Appeville, Coigny, Cretteville, Houtteville, Prétot-Sainte-Suzanne and Vindefontaine. The municipalities of Muneville-le-Bingard and La Ronde-Haye in the canton of Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin.

Department of Ille et Vilaine: All of the municipalities belonging to the cantons of Antrain, Dol-de-Bretagne, Fougères-Nord, Fougères-Sud, Louvigné-du-Désert, Pleine-Fougère, Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier and Saint-Brice-en-Coglès. The municipalities of La Fresnaie, Hirel and Saint-Benoit-des-Ondes in the canton of Cancale. The municipalities of Andouillé-Neuville, Gahard, Romazy, Saint-Aubin-d’Aubigné, Sens-de-Bretagne and Vieux-Vy-sur-Couesnon in the canton of Saint-Aubin d'Aubigné. The municipalities of Balazé, Châtillon-en-Vendelais, Montautour, Princé, Saint-M'Hervé and Vitré in the cantons of Vitré-est and Vitré-ouest.

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

Relevant natural factors

The geographical area is located around the Norman-Breton gulf, including the coastal part of the Departments of Manche and Ille-et-Vilaine. It is characterised by the importance of its coastline and by its climate's strong maritime and oceanic influence. At the heart of this geographical area, the animals feed mainly on grassland which is regularly flooded by the sea, known as salt or grass marshes. These salt marshes make up the upper part of the intertidal zone. They developed locally at the bottom of the Mont-Saint-Michel bay and of the estuaries located to the west of Cotentin, where a fine layer of sediment accumulates, harboured from strong waves and currents. The substrate of the salt marsh is known as sea sand (‘tangue’) which is made up of very fine silt and sand which are rich in calcium. The marshlands are deeply perforated by channels which break down into secondary channels thus forming an extremely dense network which divides the grassland into several operational units and creates obstacles hindering the sheeps' movement.

The vegetation is made up of plants known as halophytes which are adapted to the saltiness of the soil and to flooding. Several of these plants, including puccinellie (puccinellia maritima), troscart (triglochin maritima) and obione (halimione portulacoides), especially when frozen, are much appreciated by ‘Prés-salés du Mont-Saint-Michel’ lambs and therefore account for the majority of their diet.

Relevant human factors

Lamb production in the Mont-Saint-Michel bay can be traced back to the 10th century, when local monks had the right to ‘brebiage’ (lamb-rearing). Sheep production also took place at the same time in the Contentin port region according to the founding charter of the Lessay abbey, whereby the abbey was endowed with two sheepfolds; by 1181, sheep wool made up two thirds of the abbey’s ‘tithe’ (tax income) under the Charter of Henri II Plantagenêt.

Up until the first half of the 20th century the sheep were herded in groups of two to four, tied together, except in the polders of Mont-Saint-Michel where relatively large herds were led by shepherds onto the salt marsh. As from the second half of the 20th century, sheep rearing became more specialised with the use of sheepfolds.

In order to overcome the geographical constraints of the area, farmers have always selected their breeding stock in a specific manner so as to make the best use of the females’ reproductive capacity and the ability of the animals to move on unstable ground, whilst ensuring that the lambs’ growth is adapted to the growth cycle of the plants on the salt marsh. Thus the females belong to the herd while the males, which are bought from outside, belong to breeds which are well-suited to the living conditions of the salt marsh and whose muscle growth is relatively slower.

The rearing of ‘pré-salés’ lambs also developed thanks to the construction of sheepfolds and when the meadows located on firmer ground near the maritime marsh were made fit for that purpose. The sheepfolds are crucial for sheltering the females when they give birth and when the maritime meadows are flooded by the spring tides.

Farmers have developed breeding and dietary strategies which are well-suited to the geographical area so as to take account of weather hazards and the rate of growth in individual lambs within the herd, which varies greatly. When the animal shelters are near the coastline, feed supplements are sometimes distributed in the evening after grazing. When the shelters are far from the coast, breeders can only carry out finishing procedures before slaughter. This feed is produced mainly in the geographical area although part of it can come from outside, especially feed with nitrogenous content.

Built on local relations between breeders, butchers and slaughterers, this particular sheep-rearing tradition has resulted in consistent use being made of nearby slaughterhouses where the means and know-how for slaughtering sheep have been maintained over time. The specific know-how for slaughtering the animals involves in particular a short waiting period in comfortable conditions between arrival at the slaughterhouse and slaughter, and a particularly careful form of slaughter, cutting up and evisceration which preserve the fat cover and prevent any contamination of the carcass. There are also rules governing primary chilling and maturing. The conformity of the carcasses is assessed following these operations, particularly in relation to the quality of the fat and the appearance of the carcasses.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

The carcasses have a white, firm and evenly spread fat cover. They range between slightly covered in fat to well covered and are relatively slim. The legs are slender. Distinguishing features of the meat are its strong pink colour, fibre length and marbled appearance (from intramuscular fat). The meat remains very juicy after cooking and when chewed and produces intense, lasting flavours in the mouth, with no taste of wool grease.

The specificity of the meat has been recognised for a long time, as reflected in the words of Pierre Thomas du Fosse, a scholar and man of letters from Rouen who went to Pontorson during the summer of 1691: ‘The grass near the coast is like wild thyme: it gives the sheep meat such an exquisitely delicious taste that one would be tempted to give up partridges and pheasants.’

This longstanding notoriety was also confirmed more recently in a ruling of the Caen appeal court of 24 January 1986, stating that sheep bred at regular intervals on pastures which are periodically flooded by the sea are normally known as ‘pré-salés’ sheep and that high-quality meat is obtained from animals bred in that way.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI):

The link between ‘Prés-salés du Mont-Saint-Michel’ meat and its production area is explained by the specific vegetation of the salt marshes on which the sheep feed, as well as the physical exercise they have to do to reach it. Physical exercise plays an important role in the link to the geographical area in the salt marshes of the Mont-Saint-Michel bay, which offers large open spaces in which to graze, and also in the salt marshes of the port region of Cotentin, even though the grasslands are smaller there. The feed value of the salt marshes is relatively weak, and the rareness of the particular grass on which the sheep feed means that they have to move over long distances in order to obtain their daily intake. This results in slim carcasses and strongly coloured meat.

The meat’s distinguishing features are reinforced by these geographical constraints, including the soft terrain which is divided up by a network of deep channels and exposed to a harsh climate. Given these rough conditions, often the animals cannot arrive on the salt marshes too young and must stay there long enough so that their specific diet has its full effect on the meat obtained from them.

These breeding conditions result in animals with slim carcass conformations, a light and firm fat cover and a distinctive flavour without any taste of grease wool.

The fact that slaughtering takes place near the holdings helps preserve these features. This proximity limits travelling times, thus sparing the animals any stress which might cause the meat to deteriorate and allowing its organoleptic qualities, acquired as a result of the breeding process, to be preserved. In addition, this sheep-rearing tradition has made it possible for slaughterhouses in the geographical area to develop and maintain a specific know-how which respects the quality of the raw material (for example by keeping the fat cover intact and prohibiting spraying), while facilitating compliance checks on the carcasses.

The succulence of ‘pré-salés’ meat, recognised by gourmets, has given it a strong reputation which is reflected in its sale price: for more than a century the price has been 50-100 % higher than that of common lambs' meat.

Publication reference of the specification:

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (2))

https://www.inao.gouv.fr/fichier/CDCPresSalesMontSaintMichel.pdf

(1) Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs.

(2) See footnote 1.