Publication of an application for registration pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin

(2003/C 30/05)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of the abovementioned Regulation. Any objection to this application must be submitted via the competent authority in the Member State concerned within a time limit of six months from the date of this publication. The arguments for publication are set out below, in particular under point 4.6, and are considered to justify the application within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION: ARTICLE 5

PDO (x) PGI ( )

National application No: 6/2001

1. Responsible department in the Member State Name: Ministero delle Politiche agricole e forestali

Address: Via XX Settembre n. 20

I-00187 Roma

Tel. (39) 06 481 99 68

Fax (39) 06 42 01 31 26

2. Applicant group 2.1. Name: Consorzio Melinda scarl

2.2. Address: Via Tento, 200/9

I-38023 Cles (TN)

2.3. Composition: producer/processor (x) other ( )

3. Type of product: Class 1.6 - Fruits, vegetables, cereals, whether or not processed.

4. Specification

(Summary of requirements under Article 4(2)):

4.1. Name "mela Val di Non (Val di Non apple)"

4.2. Description A. Varieties

Apples covered by the PDO mela Val di Non are produced in the following varieties: Golden Delicious, Renetta del Canada, Red Delicious.

B. Characteristics of the product

External appearance:

On release for consumption, the fruit must be intact, with a fresh, healthy appearance, clean and free of foreign matter and odours.

The fruit must be:

- oblong, truncated cone-shaped for Golden Delicious and Red Delicious;

- truncated or flattened cone-shaped for Renetta del Canada.

The fruit is typically:

- from green to yellow in colour, occasionally with red tones, for Golden Delicious;

- red on a green background for Red Delicious;

- yellow-green with a rough skin for Renetta del Canada.

Chemical characteristics:

The fruit must have the following minimum sugar content:

- 12 °Brix for Golden Delicious

- 9 °Brix for Red Delicious;

- 9° Brix for Renetta del Canada.

The fruit must have the following minimum acidity level:

- 5 meq NaOH/100 g for Golden Delicious;

- 3,5 meq NaOH/100 g for Red Delicious;

- 8 meq NaOH/100 g for Renetta del Canada.

In addition, on harvest Golden Delicious apples must have a minimum Thiault index of

>REFERENCE TO A GRAPHIC>.

Physical characteristics:

Hardness must not be less than:

- 5 kg/cm2 for Golden Delicious;

- 5,5 kg/cm2 for Red Delicious;

- 5 kg/cm2 for Renetta del Canada.

Size and class:

The mela Val di Non PDO is reserved for apples of the "Extra" Class and Class I. The minimum size is 65 mm. The minimum quality standards for the different varieties and classes are those laid down by Regulation (EEC) No 920/89, as amended.

Organoleptic characteristics:

The valued organoleptic characteristics of mela Val di Non apples derive from the correct balance of the above physic-chemical criteria, in particular:

- Golden Delicious apples are distinguished by their crunchy and juicy flesh and by their particular sweet-acidic taste;

- Red Delicious apples have a more doughy flesh with a predominantly sweetish taste;

- Renetta del Canada apples have varying consistency and taste depending on when they are eaten, ranging form a crunchy and decidedly acidic flesh to a doughy, sweet flesh, but maintain, however, strongly individual organoleptic characteristics.

4.3. Geographical area The mela Val di Non PDO production area is the catchment area of the River Noce as it flows through the Val di Sole and the Val di Non, also known as the Valli del Noce or Anaunia, in the Autonomous Province of Trento.

The area of the two valleys covers the whole of the territory of the following municipalities:

Andalo, Amblar, Bresimo, Brez, Cagnò, Caldes, Campodenno, Castelfondo, Cavareno, Cavedago, Cavizzana, Cis, Cles, Cloz, Commezzadura, Coredo, Croviana, Cunevo, Dambel, Denno, Dimaro, Don, Flavon, Fondo, Livo, Malè, Malosco, Mezzana, Monclassico, Nanno, Ossana, Peio, Pellizzano, Rabbi, Revò, Romallo, Romeno, Ronzone, Ruffrè, Rumo, Sanzeno, Sarnonico, Sfruz, Smarano, Spormaggiore, Sporminore, Taio, Tassullo, Terres, Terzolas, Ton, Tres, Tuenno, Vermiglio and Vervò.

4.4. Proof of origin Historical references:

Proof of origin is provided by historical references attesting to the long fruit-growing tradition of the area. This goes back to antiquity, as can also be seen from place names (Malè and Malosco derive their names from the Latin Maletum, "place of apples") and authoritative historical sources (Carta di Regola of the Villa di Dardine of 1564 and Carta di Regola of Cles of 1641).

In a letter of 1739, a noble family was asked to send a basket of "pomi rosmarini" to Vienna, already famed for their quality as far away as the capital of the Habsburg Empire.

From the beginning of the nineteenth century the sources become numerous and in the second half of the century fruit growers won a whole series of awards and prizes for their fruit at international expositions.

Cultural references:

There are numerous references in paintings and other works of art since before the Renaissance attesting to the importance of apples in the area, including poems in the local dialect to apples and fruit production in the valley.

Social and economic references:

The more than 5000 growers of mela Val di Non apples, most of whom are members of storage, processing and sales cooperatives, together with the considerable economic activity connected with transport, packaging and processing constitute the economic basis of the valleys in which the apples are produced.

Traceability:

Attestation that mela Val di Non PDO apples are from the defined geographical production area is issued by the inspection body referred to in point 7 on the basis of checks on fulfilment of a range of requirements on growers throughout the production cycle.

The main requirements to be fulfilled by growers and/or packers in order to ensure the traceability of the product throughout the production cycle are:

- entry on a list of mela Val di Non producers;

- maintaining a register of all the land on which mela Val di Non apples are grown;

- maintaining production and packaging registers.

4.5. Method of production Cultivation system:

The cultivation methods used in the orchards in which mela Val di Non PDO apples are grown are traditional and aim to maintain the correct balance between growth and fruit production, thereby achieving a quality product. To that end, the cultivation systems use standard trees and quenouille-trained trees.

Planting density:

Excessively dense planting is not permitted, the maximum number of plants being 4800/ha.

Soil management:

The traditional production methods used in the area include the grassing of the land between the rows of trees for the whole productive life of the parcel and mowing during spring and summer. This is particularly important, not only ensuring the continuous and natural replacement of soil nutrients but also maintaining the soil's physical and biological structure by replacing organic substances. The additional mineral nutrients required are therefore minimal.

Control of production:

Production is controlled by means of appropriate pruning and thinning operations designed to ensure the best possible quality product. Pruning must be carried out manually each year during the winter dormant period and aims to ensure the right balance between the production of fruiting buds and vigour.

Irrigation:

Irrigation is essential in order to obtain a quality product and is carried out from March to October as required.

Harvesting:

Harvesting is exclusively manual and is carried out in August, September, October and the first two weeks of November depending on the ripeness of the varieties concerned.

Yield:

The maximum permitted yield is 68 t/ha.

Packaging

mela Val di Non apples must be packed in packaging permitting clear identification of the product.

4.6. Link Natural environment

Soil: Mela Val di Non apples are produced in an area that is highly suited to the production of apples of excellent organoleptic quality. The area's soils are formed from "dolomitic" rock and in themselves provide an element of unity. One of the features of this type of soil is its exceptionally high level of exchangeable magnesium, often as much as twice the level considered normal in other fruit-growing areas.

The organic content of the soil, at between 4 % and 6 %, is excellent, as is the nitrogen content. The soil also has good levels of other macroelements and of minor elements.

Climate: the fruit-growing area has an extremely favourable south-south-east exposure and a climate ranging from temperate-oceanic to continental-alpine, strongly mitigated by the area's particular tectonic formation (wide glacial valley).

The area's low rainfall (an average of five to seven rainy days per month) means that there are up to 300 days of sunshine every year. The complete absence of fog and mist throughout the year and the low humidity results in a very clear atmosphere which allows the strong sunlight to play its full role in the biosynthesis of sugars and in developing the full "bouquet" of aromas that characterise the apples produced in the area.

The clearness of the air during the hottest part of the day is also favoured by a southerly breeze that regularly gets up in the late morning (known as the Ora del Garda), caused by the movement of air masses originating over Lake Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes.

Air quality throughout the production area is constantly monitored by the Agenzia provinciale per la protezione dell'ambiente (Provincial Environmental Protection Agency), which can certify the absence of urban atmospheric pollution in the whole mela Val di Non production area.

The cool spring temperatures, during the initial phases in the development of the young fruit, promote the presence of natural gibberellin in the plant, which promotes efficient cell multiplication, producing a crunchy, naturally elongated fruit with, in the Delicious varieties, a typical truncated cone shape.

Rational irrigation prevents growth stress and ensures the balanced growth of flesh and skin, allowing the fruit to grow harmoniously throughout the summer, producing, in the case of the Delicious varieties, a particularly smooth skin without defects caused by russeting.

In addition, the alpine climate (hot days and cold nights) permits an excellent balance between the high level of photosynthesis products produced during the day and the low levels of sugar lost during the night. The balance is very positive, sugar losses caused by nocturnal respiration, which are directly proportional to night-time temperatures, being severely restricted by a climate that is particularly cool, even during summer nights.

The almost constant clear nights also play another vital role, covering the growing and ripening fruit in morning dew that, as it evaporates with the first rays of the sun, cools the fruit, producing an important reaction in the skin, giving it a pink tone in the case of Golden Delicious and Renetta del Canada and a bright, glossy red colour in that of Red Delicious.

The landscape, in an alpine region with a typical range of flora and its own particular wild fauna, described by botanists and naturalists, attests to the harmonious nature of the relationship between cultivation and the natural environment.

The human environment

Alongside the natural environment, centuries-long human intervention has had a decisive effect on the strong link between mela Val di Non apples and the defined production area, described in the historical information concerning the proof of origin and proven by an extensive historico-cultural and scientific bibliography.

The deep roots of the rural population in the production area, its age-old experience, its agricultural skills handed down from generation to generation, continuous research and the use of specific, traditional cultivation methods have created the conditions to permit apple-growing to consolidate over time to become what it is today, the historical, traditional and cultural heritage of the whole territory and the basis of its economy.

Today, 15000 people out of a total population of 35000 in the area work in apple production.

The life of the area's population moves in time with the phenology of apple production (in particular blossoming, ripening and harvesting) and many popular festivals, cultural events and congresses are linked to apples and to the significance of apple-growing in integrated mountain agriculture, in terms both of conserving the landscape and the natural environment and of agricultural traditions.

The link between natural and human environmental factors

The links between the above factors are such that the natural and human environments and the climate form an indissoluble whole.

This has resulted in the production of a special type of apple with unique organoleptic and quality characteristics that is highly renowned and appreciated, Val di Non apples everywhere enjoying a high reputation, with both consumers and the trade.

According to official surveys, Val di Non apples have for several decades constituted a category by themselves.

Mela Val di Non apples usually command prices on average 20 to 25 % and occasionally as much as 40 to 45 % higher than apples of the same size and colour, i.e. of the same commercial class, grown elsewhere.

This consistently higher price, linked to the provenance of the apples, is enjoyed by all three of the varieties for which protection as a mela Val di Non PDO is requested, i.e. Golden Delicious, Renetta del Canada and Red Delicious.

The wide range of results obtained in qualitative analyses of mela Val di Non apples, reveals not only the natural variability of the product but also a higher average quality. This is recognised by consumers who are prepared to pay considerably more for apples grown in this production area.

As well as being appreciated by consumers for their particular qualities linked to the environment, the renown of mela della Val di Non apples is shown by the prizes and certificates of merit they have won at numerous national and international fairs and exhibitions.

This is due to the total involvement, as regards culture, work and economic activity, of the inhabitants of the area in the process of production of mela Val di Non apples, that has created a strong link between the product and the environment and, in particular, over time a strong "sentimental" link between the people of the valleys and this exceptional fruit.

4.7. Inspection body Name: CSQA

Address: Via San Gaetano, 74

I-36016 Thiene (VI)

4.8. Labelling The words P.D.O "mela Val di Non" must appear on sales packaging and on individual apples.

It is prohibited to add to the designation any indication of origin not expressly provided for in the above specification or any additional indications likely to mislead consumers.

4.9. National requirements: -

EC No: IT/00197/2001/05.30.

Date of receipt of the full application: 10 July 2002.