EN Official Journal of the European Union C 358/9

Application for approval of a minor amendment in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2017/C 358/10)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A MINOR AMENDMENT

Application for approval of a minor amendment in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2)

‘GRANA PADANO’

EU No: PDO-IT-02296 — 1.3.2017

PDO ( X ) PGI ( ) TSG ( )

1. Applicant group and legitimate interest

Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano Via XXIV Giugno 8 25015 Desenzano del Garda (Brescia) ITALIA Tel. +39 030919811 Fax +39 0309010487

The Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano represents producers of Grana Padano and is entitled to submit an amendment application pursuant to Article 13(1) of Decree No 12511 of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy of 14 October 2013.

2. Member State or Third Country

Italy.

3. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment(s)

— ☐ Description of product — ☐ Proof of origin — ☐ Production method — ☐ Link — ☒ Labelling — ☐ Other [to be specified]

4. Type of amendment(s)

— ☐ Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, that requires no amendment to the published single document. — ☒ Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, that requires an amendment to the published single document. — ☐ Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, for which a single document (or equivalent) has not been published. — ☐ Amendment to product specification of registered TSG to be qualified as minor in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

5. Amendment(s)

This amendment concerns the way in which packaging for the Trentingrana type of Grana Padano is presented.

In Article 8, point B of the specifications, the following text has been inserted:

‘Packaging that contains Grana Padano PDO cheese meeting the characteristics of the specific type TRENTINGRANA as described above, i.e. from wheels with the specific marking bands for that type, will be characterised by the following image on the relevant packaging and advertising material: ’

This amendment is due to the requirement imposed by producers of the Trentingrana type of Grana Padano for uniformity as regards labelling layout.

Article 8, point B (last subparagraph) of the specifications has been added:

‘Notwithstanding the fact that for the categories expressly mentioned in the specification (‘Oltre 16 Mesi’ [more than 16 months] and ‘RISERVA — Oltre 20 Mesi’ [Reserve — more than 20 months]), the logos for those categories referred to above must be complied with, the packaging may also refer to, on a voluntary basis, ageing periods other than those specific to the two categories concerned. However, this must be done in such a way that does not lead to the mistaken belief that this is another product category provided for and approved by the specification. Therefore, in the interests of clarity and to avoid misunderstandings between official categories and voluntary additional information designed to provide more precise and accurate consumer information, ageing of 16 months and 20 months may only be indicated by means of the two specific logos mentioned above, while other indications of ageing (e.g. ‘Stagionatura 12 mesi’, ‘Stagionatura 14 mesi’, ‘Stagionatura 18 mesi’ [12-month, 14-month and 18-month ageing, respectively] or similar) may only be indicated with fonts, colours, dimensions and location on packaging different from specific PDO Grana Padano packaging.’

This change was necessary to allow manufacturers to provide an indication of the cheese’s ageing period on the label, and also to prevent such information from leading to any misunderstanding between official categories and voluntary additional information.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘GRANA PADANO’

EU No: PDO-IT-02296 — 1.3.2017

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1. Name

‘Grana Padano’

2. Member State or Third Country

Italy

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.3. Cheeses

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

Hard cheese made from cooked paste; it is matured slowly, manufactured throughout the year and used whole or grated; it is produced from raw, partially skimmed milk from cows, milked twice a day, whose basic diet consists of fresh or dried fodder; milk used may come from one milking or from two milkings mixed together. The cheese is cylindrical in form with a slightly convex or virtually straight heel, and with flat faces featuring a slightly raised edge.

It has a diameter of 35 to 45 cm and the heel is 18 to 25 cm high, depending on technical production conditions.

Weight: from 24 to 40 kg; rind: hard and smooth, 4-8 mm thickness.

The paste is hard, with a finely grained structure, flaky from the middle out and with barely visible eyes. The minimum fat content of the dry matter is 32 %. The colour of the rind is a natural golden yellow and the paste is white or straw-coloured. The paste has a fragrant aroma and a delicate taste.

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The basic feed for the dairy cattle, consisting of green or preserved fodder, is fed to lactating cows, dry cows and heifers over 7 months old. Milk cows are fed primarily with feed produced on the home farm or in the Grana Padano PDO production area.

No less than 50 % of the dry matter of the daily ration must be made up of feed with a ratio of fodder to feed of no less than 1, by reference to the dry matter. At least 75 % of the dry matter of the fodder in the daily ration should come from feed produced in the production area of the milk.

The authorised feeds are listed in a positive list which includes:

— fodder: fresh fodder, hay, straw, silage (not permitted for Trentingrana production),

— raw materials for feed, by category, which may be added to the fodder: cereals and their derivatives, oil seeds and their derivatives, tubers and root vegetables and products derived from them, dehydrated fodder, derivatives of the sugar industry, legume seeds, fats, minerals, additives.

Starting material: Raw cow’s milk, natural whey and calf rennet. The milk comes from cows reared in the geographical area defined in point 4.

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

The production and maturing operations must take place on the territory of the production area delineated in point 4.

3.5. Specific rules concerning the slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

Grating and related packaging must take place within the production area defined in point 4, since freshly grated cheese is a highly sensitive product and the preservation of its organoleptic characteristics requires it to be packaged immediately in conditions such as to avoid any drying out; furthermore, immediate packaging in a packaging bearing the designation of origin is better able to guarantee the authenticity of the grated product, which by nature is more difficult to identify than a whole cheese (as confirmed by the judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-469/00).

The use, for the production of grated ‘Grana Padano’, of cheese left over from the cutting and packaging of ‘Grana Padano’ PDO marketed in pieces of varying or fixed weight, as blocks, cubes, bite-sized pieces etc., is permitted only under the following conditions: the maximum proportion of rind must be 18 %; traceability of the whole ‘Grana Padano’ PDO cheese from which the leftover cheese comes must be guaranteed; where the stages are separate and/or are transferred from one establishment to another, the leftover cheese must be kept apart by registration number and month of production; the leftover cheese may be transferred only within the same farm or between farms of the same group and only within the area of origin. The marketing of leftover cheese for the production of grated ‘Grana Padano’ is therefore prohibited.

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

The official mark attesting to the product having met the requirements justifying the use of the ‘GRANA PADANO’ Protected Designation of Origin, and which must therefore appear both on the whole wheel and on all the packaging of ‘GRANA PADANO PDO’ cheese in portions and grated, consists of a rhomboid shape over which the words ‘GRANA’ and ‘PADANO’ are stamped in upper case letters. In the upper and lower corners of the rhomboid, which are rounded, are inscribed respectively the initials ‘G’ and ‘P’.

The marking bands which cold stamp the origin mark on the wheels at the moulding stage are made up of a number of rhomboidal diamond shapes which contain within them the alternating words ‘GRANA’ and ‘PADANO’, and bear the cheese manufacturer’s identification references and the month and year of manufacture.

Only ‘Grana Padano PDO’ produced in the Autonomous Province of Trento, made using milk from cows fed throughout the year with fodder which does not include silage of any kind, qualifies for use of the special ‘TRENTINGRANA’ marking bands, consisting of a line of rhomboidal diamond shapes split by the word ‘TRENTINO’; in the centre, between the outlines of stylised mountains, the word ‘TRENTINO’ appears right way up and in vertical rotation.

Packaging that contains Grana Padano PDO cheese meeting the characteristics of TRENTINGRANA described above will be characterised by the following image on the relevant packaging material and advertising:

Identification of origin by means of marking bands includes the affixing of a casein nameplate bearing the words ‘GRANA PADANO’, the year of manufacture and an alphanumeric code which unambiguously identifies each cheese wheel.

‘Grana Padano’ cheese which has been matured for at least 20 months after being moulded — within the production area — may be described as ‘RISERVA’. Classification in the category ‘Grana Padano RISERVA’ is shown by a second brand, affixed to the heel of the cheese at the request of the operators, in accordance with the same rules governing the affixing of the PDO mark. The mark in question is composed of a circle with the word ‘RISERVA’ written across the centre. In the upper half are written the word ‘OLTRE’ and the number ‘20’, and in the lower half appears the word ‘MESI’.

The following additional categories are applicable in the case of packaged products: ‘Grana Padano’ OLTRE 16 MESI and ‘Grana Padano’ RISERVA.

On the packaging containing cheese of the category ‘Grana Padano’ Oltre 16 Mesi, the GRANA PADANO logo also bears the words ‘OLTRE 16 MESI’ on a single line between two parallel lines.

On the packaging containing cheese of the category ‘Grana Padano’ Riserva, the brand RISERVA appears in addition to the GRANA PADANO logo.

Notwithstanding the fact that for the categories expressly mentioned in the specification (‘Oltre 16 Mesi’ [more than 16 months] and ‘RISERVA — Oltre 20 Mesi’ [Reserve — more than 20 months], the logos for those categories must be complied with, the packaging may also refer to, on a voluntary basis, ageing periods other than those specific to the two categories concerned.

However, this must be done in such a way that does not lead to the mistaken belief that this is another product category provided for and approved by the specification.

Therefore, in the interests of clarity and to avoid misunderstandings between official categories and voluntary additional information designed to provide more precise and accurate consumer information, ageing of 16 months and 20 months may only be indicated by means of the two specific logos mentioned above, while other indications of ageing (e.g. ‘Stagionatura 12 mesi’, ‘Stagionatura 14 mesi’, ‘Stagionatura 18 mesi’ [12-month, 14-month and 18-month ageing, respectively] or similar) may only be indicated with fonts, colours, dimensions and location on packaging different from specific PDO Grana Padano packaging.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area for the cheese, whole or grated, consists of the territory of the provinces of Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Torino, Verbania, Vercelli, Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Lecco, Lodi, Mantova on the left bank of the Po, Milano, Monza, Pavia, Sondrio, Varese, Trento, Padova, Rovigo, Treviso, Venezia, Verona, Vicenza, Bologna to the right of the Reno, Ferrara, Forlì Cesena, Piacenza, Ravenna and Rimini, as well as the following municipalities of the province of Bolzano: Anterivo, Lauregno, Proves, Senale-S. Felice and Trodena.

5. Link with the geographical area

The production area for ‘Grana Padano’ PDO is largely contiguous with the region of the Po plain, that is to say the geographical area of the Po river plain, characterised by fairly flat water meadows with alluvial soil of fluvial-glacial origin and well-supplied with water: this is one of the most fertile areas of the world and among the best suited for growing fodder.

In particular, these soil characteristics, together with the area’s microclimate, favour the production of maize, which represents the greatest proportion of the fodder for the cows whose milk is intended for ‘Grana Padano’ PDO, since it can make up to 50 % of the dry matter ingested.

The reclamation and irrigation of the Po plain since the 11th century has given rise to the local development of livestock rearing. The resulting availability of substantial quantities of milk, which was surplus to the daily needs of the rural population, prompted the need to transform it into a durable cheese. Even today, the large supply of local fodder, in particular maize, linked to the vast supply of water, is an essential element for maintaining livestock rearing and the consequent supply of milk.

The specificity of ‘Grana Padano PDO’ may be ascribed to the following elements:

— size and weight of the cheese,

— particular morphology of the paste, linked to the production technique, characterised by a granular texture, which gives rise to its typical flakiness,

— white or straw colour, with a delicate flavour and fragrant aroma, due essentially to the widespread use of waxy corn in the fodder fed to the cattle,

— water and fat content largely similar to the protein content,

— high level of natural breakdown of the proteins in peptones, peptides and free amino acids,

— suitability for lengthy ripening, even beyond 20 months.

The causal link between ‘Grana Padano PDO’ and its area of origin may be traced to the following factors:

— The high irrigation potential of the Po plain and the resulting availability of fodder, including mainly waxy corn, which is responsible for the specific characteristics of the white or straw colour, flavour and aroma of the paste. Indeed, the direct result of using corn or waxy corn silage is the inclusion in the diet of fewer colorants such as carotene, anthocyanins and chlorophyll than if using a feed based on straw of various kinds or green fodder essences. This is a direct effect of storage in silos,

— the use of raw milk, which has the effect of including in the process of cheese-making lactic bacteria typical of the area,

— the use of natural whey, which creates an unbroken microbiological link with the production area. In fact, the milk which turns to curds and thus to whey, is the link in the chain joining the cheese-making process to the production area and also ensures the continued and constant inclusion of lactic bacteria typical of the area of origin, to which are due the main special characteristics of Grana Padano PDO cheese.

The causal link between the characteristics of the product and its area of origin is also provided by the ‘casaro’ [cheesemaker] who since time immemorial has been of central and fundamental importance in the manufacture of Grana Padano PDO.

Even today, the task of transforming milk into ‘Grana Padano’ PDO is entrusted to cheesemakers rather than to technicians or scientists.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

The consolidated text of the product specification can be consulted on the following website: http://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/3335

or alternatively:

by going directly to the homepage of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy (www.politicheagricole.it) and clicking on ‘Prodotti DOP e IGP’ (at the top right-hand side of the screen), then on ‘Prodotti DOP, IGP e STG’ (on the left-hand side of the screen), and finally by clicking on ‘Disciplinari di Produzione all’esame dell’UE’.

(1) OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.

(2) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.