EN Official Journal of the European Union C 305/19

Publication of an amendment 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

2010/C 305/12

This publication confers the right to object to the amendment application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months of the date of this publication.

AMENDMENT APPLICATION

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

AMENDMENT APPLICATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 9

‘RIVIERA LIGURE’

EC No: IT-PDO-0117-1540-05.06.2000

PGI ( ) PDO ( X )

1. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment:

—  Name of product — Description of product —  Geographical area —  Proof of origin — Method of production —  Link — Labelling —  National requirements — Other (to be specified)

2. Type of amendment(s):

—  Amendment to single document or summary sheet — Amendment to specification of registered PDO or PGI for which neither the single document nor summary has been published —  Amendment to specification that requires no amendment to the published single document (Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006) —  Temporary amendment to specification resulting from imposition of obligatory sanitary or phytosanitary measures by public authorities (Article 9(4) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)

3. Amendment(s):

3.1. Description of product:

The product specification has been amended by introducing medians for the typical descriptors, eliminating the 6,5 rating (no longer relevant) and adopting the provisions of method COI/T20 Doc. No 22.

3.2. Method of production:

For oil with the additional geographical reference ‘Riviera del Ponente Savonese’, the composition in terms of olive varieties is amended, with the percentage of the ‘Taggiasca’ variety being reduced from 60 % to 50 % and that of the other varieties that may be used to produce the oil being increased from 40 % to 50 %.

This change has become necessary because, during surveying and on-the-spot investigation for the purpose of drawing up the register of olive groves, a necessary task for the purpose of monitoring activity, it was found that the percentages had been given incorrectly at the time of the application for registration of the designation.

The date of harvesting of the olives has been put back and must now be completed by 31 March each year, since the olive tree growing area extends from the shoreline along the slopes of the hills, working its way into valleys to reach altitudes as high as 600-700 m above sea level. This difference in altitude, together with other morphological factors of the territory including the inclination of the land, exposure to the sun and the type of cultivars specific to Liguria, lead to the drupes maturing, and thus the olives being harvested, over a range of time.

3.3. Labelling:

Article 7(3) of the product specification has been amended with the introduction of improvements intended to give consumers more specific and precise information by making it possible to include the names of holdings, estates and farms only if the product has been produced exclusively from olive groves on the holding itself and processed and packaged within the defined area.

3.4. Other:

The inspection body referred to in the file sent in 1996 pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, namely the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Resources, cannot carry out the duties indicated at that time. Accordingly, these tasks have been assigned to the Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Craft Trades and Agriculture of Genoa, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia, coordinated by Unioncamere Liguria, Via San Lorenzo 15/1, 16123 Genova Genoa, ITALY. The conformity of the product to the specification is monitored by this inspection body in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. This body is a designated public authority.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘RIVIERA LIGURE’

EC No: IT-PDO-0117-1540-25.06.2000

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

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

1. Responsible department in the Member State:

Name: Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari e forestali Address: Via XX Settembre 20 00187 Roma RM ITALIA Tel. +39 0646655104 Fax +39 0646655306 E-mail: saco7@politicheagricole.gov.it

2. Group:

Name: Consorzio per la tutela dell’olio extravergine di oliva a denominazione di origine protetta Riviera Ligure Address: Via T. Schiva 29 18100 Imperia IM ITALIA Tel. +39 0183767924 Fax +39 0183769039 E-mail: info@consorziodoprivieraligure.it Composition: Producers/processors ( X ) Other ( )

3. Type of product:

Class 1.5 — Oils and fats

4. Specification:

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

4.1. Name:

‘Riviera Ligure’

4.2. Description:

‘Riviera Ligure’ is an extra virgin olive oil with the following chemical and organoleptic characteristics:

— maximum acidity: 0,80 %,

— peroxides: ≤ 18 mEq O2/kg,

— colour: from yellow to green/yellow,

— descriptors for organoleptic assessment (COI/T20/Doc. No 22): — in the organoleptic assessment, the median of defects must be equal to 0; — fruitiness: median ≥ 3; — pungency: maximum median ≤ 4; — bitterness: maximum median ≤ 4; — sweetness: median ≥ 4.

4.3. Geographical area:

The production area of ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO covers the entire administrative territory of Liguria.

4.4. Proof of origin:

Every stage in the production process must be monitored and a record made of the inputs and outputs at each stage. To this end, it is the duty of all those involved in the process to complete the requisite transport documents provided for in the control plan. The transport documents must accompany every consignment of olives and/or oil, indicate all the necessary information regarding the origin of the product as referred to in point 4.3, and be available for consultation by the inspection body during inspections. This, together with the entry on special lists held by the inspection body of olive groves, producers, oil millers and bottlers, ensures the traceability of the product. All natural and legal persons whose names appear in the lists will be subject to monitoring by the inspection body in accordance with the product specification and the control plan.

4.5. Method of production:

‘Riviera Ligure’ extra virgin olive oil is produced with healthy olives harvested directly from the tree before 31 March each year in olive groves located in the specific production area. The olives must be harvested directly from the tree by hand or using mechanical means. Olive production may not exceed 7 000 kg per hectare in specialised olive groves and the oil yield may not exceed 25 %. For extraction, use may be made only of mechanical or physical procedures that allow an oil to be obtained that has the original, specific quality characteristics of the fruit.

The planting methods, growing methods and pruning systems must be those traditionally used or, in any case, be such as not to change the characteristics of the olives and the oils intended to be covered by the ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO. Hillside olive groves on a medium or steep slope, mainly laid out in terraces, that are situated in the area indicated in the production specification and whose soils derive from fragmentation of the parent rock of calcareous origin, are thus suitable.

For the production of ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO extra virgin olive oil with the additional geographical reference ‘Riviera dei Fiori’, the suitable olive groves are those located in the production area described in the specification, lying on more or less sloping land, laid out in terraces, where, as a result of the mechanical fragmentation of the parent rock of calcareous origin (Eocene), the formation of layers has, over time, given rise to medium soils becoming looser at higher altitudes.

For the production of ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO extra virgin olive oil with the additional geographical reference ‘Riviera del Ponente Savonese’, the suitable olive groves those located in the production area described in the specification, lying on sloping land and laid out in terraces, excluding the Albenga plain, where the parent rock of calcareous origin has been affected by meteorological phenomena and waterways, giving rise to medium, generally deep soils, becoming looser and more permeable at higher altitudes owing to the presence of shale. For the production of ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO extra virgin olive oil with the additional geographical reference ‘Riviera di Levante’, the suitable olive groves are those located in the production area described in the specification, lying on sloping land and laid out in terraces supported towards the coast by dry stone walls, where the soil, originating in the Miocene and Eocene, derives from the parent rock that is primarily calcareous inland and shaley/sandy on the coast. The soil in the inland area is medium with a good deal of clay, while that on the coast is loose and mainly sandy.

4.6. Link:

The product owes its characteristics to the special soil and climatic conditions; indeed, the area's environmental factors and specific cultivars give oil from Liguria a distinctive character.

These elements — cultivars that are specific to Liguria and environment understood as climate and territory — and the fact that the olives from the specific Ligurian cultivars mature over a range of time, contribute to the character of ‘Riviera Ligure’ PDO extra virgin olive oil, which is achieved from the balance between sweet and slightly fruity notes.

Other factors that attest to the link between the product and the geographical area are the varieties of olive tree that are exclusive to Liguria, the oleic acid levels which are among the highest in all of Italy and are closely linked to the varieties, climate and cultivation methods (in particular harvesting) that are influenced by the topography of the area.

The introduction and dissemination of the olive tree is historically attributed to Benedictine monks who, in the early Middle Ages, bred the local cultivars and improved the cultivation techniques by teaching the use of terraces with the construction of dry stone walls. The trade in oil from the Ligurian coast (riviera ligure) is attested to by documents from the Republic of Genoa concerning administration and provisioning of the city. 1593 saw the establishment of the Magistratura dei Provvisori dell'Olio (Magistracy of Oil Procurers) which guaranteed impartiality in the administration of this important good, introducing a requirement for producers on the Ligurian coast to deliver a quota of the oil produced at a set price.

Documents from the 17th century attest to supplies of oil from the Ligurian coast, for example to the Duchy of Milan and the Prince of Savoy.

The talent for oil-making in Liguria was consolidated in the 18th century and continued with a flourishing trade in the local oil, particularly along the west, ‘ponente’, coast. At the end of the 19th century, the renown and characteristics of Ligurian oil were well known abroad too, as recipe books reveal. The designation ‘Riviera Ligure’ dates back to this period, an era when Liguria passed under the dominion of the House of Savoy and in which the Genoa coast (riviera di Genova) became the Ligurian (Riviera Ligure), acquiring the adjectives ‘west’ (‘ponente’) and ‘east’ (‘levante’), which reflect the central position occupied by Genoa. It was immediately after the unification of Italy, when Liguria reached its current geographical size, i.e. excluding the area of Nice, that the term ‘Riviera’ became widespread as the common designation for olive production in the region.

4.7. Inspection body:

Name: Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Craft Trades and Agriculture of Genoa, Savona, Imperia and La Spezia, coordinated by Unioncamere Liguria Address: Via San Lorenzo 15/1 16123 Genova GE ITALIA Tel. +39 010248521 Fax +39 0102471522 E-mail: unione.liguria@lig.camcom.it

4.8. Labelling:

The designation ‘Riviera Ligure’ must appear on the label in clear, indelible letters fully distinguishable from any other wording and be followed immediately by the term ‘Denominazione di Origine Protetta’.

Any other description not expressly allowed is prohibited, including the following words: ‘tipo’ (type), ‘gusto’ (taste), ‘uso’ (use), ‘selezionato’ (choice), ‘scelto’ (selected) or similar.

However, the use of names, trade names and private brands is permitted, provided that they have no laudatory purport and are not such as to mislead the consumer.

The year of production of the olives from which the oil was made must be indicated on the label.

(1) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.