EN Official Journal of the European Union C 180/21

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 180/11

This publication confers the right to object to the application in accordance with Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006 OF THE COUNCIL

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2)

‘CORDERO SEGUREÑO’

EC No: ES-PGI-0005-0871-01.04.2011

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name

‘Cordero Segureño’

2. Member State or third country

Spain

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Product type

Class 1.1. Fresh meat (and offal)

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

The meat is sold as whole carcass, half carcass or in bone-in or bone-out parts or in consumer sales, obtained from male or female lambs of sheep of the Segureño breed.

The carcasses have the following characteristics:

(a) whole-carcass weight, without head or offal: 9,0-13,0 kg (bled);

(b) presentation: full carcass, without head or offal, trimmed and bled and free from defects; classification of the carcass: Categories B and C, first quality, in accordance with EU rules on the classification of sheep carcases (Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008);

(c) carcass: conformation class R and O in accordance with EU rules on the classification of sheep carcasses (Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008);

(d) fat: — degree of fat cover of carcasses: between 2 and 3 in accordance with EU rules on the classification of sheep carcasses (Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008); — abdominal fat: class 1 to 2 in males and 2 to 3 in females, 3 in accordance with EU rules on the classification of sheep carcasses (Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008);

(e) meat colour from clear pink to pink.

3.3. Raw materials (only for processing products)

—

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only)

The lambs are fed on mother’s milk supplemented with products rich in fibre and plant-based food supplement until slaughter.

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

Lambs are born and reared until slaughter within the area and may be slaughtered or butchered at any slaughterhouse or approved cutting plant.

3.6. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

—

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling

The Protected Geographical Indication ‘Cordero Segureño’ is accompanied by a logo or label to identify all products covered.

Carcasses which comply with the requirements bear label markings on both half carcasses, from the neck to the rump, in indelible ink fit for food use, with the logo of the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Cordero Segureño’ and are identified by a numbered label affixed to one of the rear limbs, showing the weight and the logo of the Protected Geographical Indication.

Cut parts are identified or marked with a numbered label bearing the logo of the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Cordero Segureño’.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The defined geographical area for the PGI in which the Segureño breed has traditionally been bred for the production of ‘Cordero Segureño’ is at the meeting-point of the provinces of Albacete, Almería, Grenada, Jaén and Murcia, hedged in by the range of hills known as the Cordilleras Béticas Orientales, characterised by a minimum altitude of 500 metres; this altitude also defines the limits of the region inasmuch as it clearly influences the agro-climatic characteristics of the area and, consequently, the production system. This area comprises a total of 144 municipalities in the provinces mentioned above, listed below broken down by Autonomous Community, province and district:

Autonomous Community of Andalusia: Province of Almería: District of Almanzora (13 municipalities), district of Alto Nacimiento (6 municipalities), district of Filabres-Alhamilla (8 municipalities), district of Los Vélez (4 municipalities) Province of Granada: District of Baza (8 municipalities), district of Guadix (33 municipalities), district of Huéscar (6 municipalities) Province of Jaén: District of El Condado (8 municipalities), District of La Loma and Las Villas (6 municipalities), Northern District (3 municipalities), district of the Sierra de Cazorla (9 municipalities), district of the Sierra de Segura (13 municipalities)

Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha: Province of Albacete: District Sierra Segura (10 municipalities), district Sierra Alcaraz (12 municipalities)

Autonomous Community of Murcia: Province of Murcia: North-Western district (5 municipalities)

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

The production area for Segureño sheep from which are obtained the carcasses covered by the Protected Geographical Indication are the steep wide hills and valleys where the provinces of Albacete, Almería, Granada, Jaén and Murcia meet, and it includes the areas to which traditionally livestock was driven to take advantage of seasonal pastures. The rural districts of this area, characterised by an altitude of 500 metres as already explained, share orographic characteristics and homogeneous climatic conditions, and common production methods, dictated by the altitude, which are essential in order to reach standards of quality of the product.

The defined area, as specified in the preceding point, has the following agricultural and climatic characteristics.

— Winter type, according to the Papadakis agro-climatic classification: CI (Citrus), av (avena/oats warm) or Av (Avena/oats cool), which may be broken down as follows.

— Average temperature of the absolute minimum of coldest month between – 10 °C and + 7 °C.

— Average temperature of the maximum for the coldest month between + 5 °C and + 21 °C.

— Dry or arid period 5 months or fewer

— Cold or frost period 5 months or greater.

The altitude of the production area has given it special agro-climatic characteristics which are more severe (equivalent to the low-lying cold land climatic unit of the Papadakis scale) than is typical of the south-eastern Spanish peninsula. The climate is extreme continental, consisting of cold harsh winters and hot dry summers, with major daily temperature variations and low and irregular rainfall which, as the soil is agriculturally poor, consisting of dark-chalky soil which is in many cases eroded, result in a short annual growing period for pasture which is, moreover, of low productivity.

In this sense, these unique agro-climatic conditions in the geographical area have meant that sheep and, in particular, the Segureño breed, is virtually the only species able to live and thrive under these conditions. This breed, which is native to the area and is very hardy, has had to evolve in order to adapt to this harsh and inadequate environment.

The characteristics of the area has caused the keeping of the Segureño sheep to adapt to the harshness of those conditions, requiring special handling; flocks are reared under extensive or semi-extensive conditions, typically in a mixture of natural-pasture-and-sheep or cereal-and-sheep, where traditional practices are followed. Adult animals are kept out to pasture throughout the year, spending the night under shelter or in some cases out in the open. It is the spontaneous vegetation native to the area that is grazed as well as pasture of stubble fields of cereal and legume crops and, occasionally, irrigated pastureland, thereby making the most of the potential of the production area. Grazing may be supplemented, where necessary, with the administration of food supplements. A small number of holdings follow the practice of ‘trashumancia-transterminancia’, driving flocks over long distances to traditional seasonal pastures within the geographical area.

Similarly, the traditional method of breeding of the lambs is also subject to the agro-climatic conditions and the availability of resources suitable for food. This has forced the rearing and feeding of the lambs to be permanently indoors, and they are kept away from their mothers while the latter are grazing. The feed of the lambs is based on ewes’ milk, which is exclusively reserved for the lambs, supplemented by products rich in fibre and plant-based food supplements, up until slaughter. This supplement in the diet is a major economic expenditure for producers in feeding the lambs, so that the carcasses of Segureño lambs come from lambs with low live weight thus mitigating the cost.

5.2. Specificity of the product

The lamb covered by the PGI is the male or female offspring of exclusively Segureño sheep.

Traditionally the carcasses obtained from such lambs have weighed between 9 kg and 13 kg, of conformation class R and O, the meat of which is clear pink or pink with an extremely good level of fat coverage and infiltration.

The meat has a succulent and tender texture due to the peculiar fat infiltration in the muscle meat of such animals and is free from the odour and flavour of fat due to their low weight at slaughter.

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 application for recognition of ‘Cordero Segureño’ as a PGI is justified by its specific characteristics.

Segureño lambs grow relatively quickly as a result of being fed wholly on the milk produced by their mothers, who are devoted exclusively to feeding their offspring, which results in ideally conformed carcasses, the breed provenance of the lambs being the decisive factor in that conformation.

The meat colour of ‘Cordero Segureño’ is influenced by various factors closely linked to the agro-climatic conditions of the area. They include the obligatory indoor rearing of the lambs and their feeding on ewes’ milk and products rich in fibre, obtained other than by grazing. This results in a low weight of carcasses at slaughter, which encourages the presence of a particular type of muscle fibre which confers on the meat its clear pink or pink colour, typical of this kind of lamb, and a meat free from the odour and flavour of fat.

The same applies to the amount and type of fat present in carcasses and meat. Thus, the quantity of fat cover and abdominal fat of the carcasses depends largely on their weight. An increase in the weight of the carcasses would also entail an increase in the degree of fat cover which would be greater in the carcasses of female lambs. Another fact to be taken into account with respect to the type of fat is that both the breed of the lambs as well as the type of muscle fibre present in the muscle guarantees that the meat possesses an optimal level of fat infiltration, resulting in a succulent and tender texture.

All the foregoing confers on the Segureño breed its tendency to provide good meat, which has given rise to a lamb with a high-yield carcass, giving it at its ideal slaughter weight its distinctive characteristics of high quality, compared with other lambs within its weight range, which is particularly appreciated by consumers.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5 (7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006) (3)

www.magrama.gob.es/es/alimentacion/temas/calidad-agroalimentaria/PLIEGO_IGP_cordero_segure%C3%B1o_11-10-12_tcm7-224398.pdf

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

(2) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3) See footnote 2.