EN Official Journal of the European Union C 172/13

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

(2005/C 172/06)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Articles 7 and 12d of the abovementioned Regulation. Any objection to this application must be submitted via the competent authority in a Member State, in a WTO member country or in a third country recognized in accordance with Article 12(3) within a time limit of six months from the date of this publication. The arguments for publication are set out below, in particular under 4.6, and are considered to justify the application within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

‘ACEITE DE LA RIOJA’

EC No: ES/00312/21.08.2003

PDO (X) PGI ( )

This note is a summary produced for information. For full details, interested parties and in particular the producers of the products covered by the PDO and the PGI in question are invited to consult the full version of the specifications at national services and associations or at the competent services of the European Commission (1).

1. Responsible department in the Member State:

Name: Subdirección General de Systems de Calidad Diferenciada — Dirección General de Alimentación — Secretaría General de Agriculture y Alimentación del Ministerio de Agriculture, Pesca y Alimentación de España. Address: Infanta Isabel, 1, E-28071 Madrid Tel.: (34-941) 347 53 94 Fax: (34-941) 347 54 10

2. Group:

2.1. Name: ‘Asolrioja’ Association de Trujales y Olivicultores de La Rioja. 2.2 Address: C/ Gran Vía, no 14, 8oA. Logroño, La Rioja Tel.: 655 93 89 80 2.3 Composition: producer/processor (X) other ( )

3. Type of product:

Extra virgin olive oil. Class 1.5.- Oils and fats (butter, margarine, oil, etc.).

4. Specification:

(Summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1. Name: ‘Aceite de La Rioja’

4.2. Description: Product obtained from the fruit of the olive tree (olives) using exclusively mechanical methods or procedures, including pressing, in conditions which, particularly as regards heat, do not alter the nature of the oil or its excellent taste and free fatty acid content expressed as oleic acid of not more than 0,8 grams per 100, excluding oils obtained using solvents or by reesterification and any mixing with oils of other types or olive oil obtained by different methods.

The protected oils are extra virgin olive oils, clear in appearance, with no cloudiness, turbidity or dirt which detracts from their transparency. They are green in colour, with lights which may range from intense light green to intense dark green. They have no defects and sufficiently marked positive features. Their taste is fruity early in the season, with hints of almond, no bitterness, sweet and slightly savoury.

Once it has matured, La Rioja olive oil has the following physical and chemical characteristics: Acidity not exceeding 0,8, ultraviolet absorption (K270) not exceeding 0,20, ultraviolet absorption (K232), not exceeding 2,50, peroxide index mEq O2 not exceeding 15, humidity and volatile mater when heated to 105 °C not exceeding 0,1 per 100, impurities insoluble in petroleum ether not exceeding 0,1 per 100, average organoleptic defect evaluation (Md), Md = 0 and average organoleptic evaluation of fruitiness (Mf), Mf > 0.

4.3. Geographical area: The area of production corresponds to that of conservation, extraction and packaging and covers the 503 388 ha of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja.

4.4. Proof of origin: Holdings and/or plantations, oil mills and packaging plants located in the designated area from which the raw material is derived and where it is processed must be entered in the corresponding registers of the ‘Asolrioja’ Association.

These holdings and/or plantations, oil mills and/or packaging plants must also have their own self-inspection system and be subject to outside checks by the I.C.A.R. and/or an outside inspection body under contract to the ‘Asolrioja’ Association, which will ensure recognition by the relevant authority (Department of agriculture, livestock raising and rural development of the Government of La Rioja) of compliance with standard UNE EN 45.004, providing impartial checks that the protected extra virgin olive oil meets the requirements set out in the Regulation and the specification.

Each holding and/or plantation, oil mill and/or packaging plant must apply to the Association for entry in the ‘Control plan’ and the I.C.A.R and/or the authorised outside inspection body evaluates it by means of a registration audit. If this is satisfactory, the body concerned may be entered in the corresponding register of the Association, which will ensure that it is continuously updated. Subsequently, the I.C.A.R. and/or the outside inspection body draws up an ‘Audit plan’ leading to a report to be evaluated by the Food Quality Institute. If its decision is favourable, Product certification is granted, ensuring that only extra virgin olive oil which has passed all the checks provided for will be marketed. There is also a Coordination Council to ensure the impartiality of both the Association itself and of the I.C.A.R and/or the authorised outside inspection body.

The traceability of the product is guaranteed by its identification at each of the stages of production and marketing.

4.5. Method of production: The state of health of the fruit, the date of harvesting and the increasingly modern processing techniques mean that the area of production boasts a good quality of fruit and so the oil obtained from it. The productivity and shade density of the olive tree will be appropriate to the state of growth of the plantation. Harvesting is always carried out carefully, with the sole aim of producing the protected oils from healthy fruit collected direct from the tree and of an appropriate degree of ripeness.

All the mills and/or packaging plants have systems to guarantee the separate unloading of fruit intended for the preparation of La Rioja extra virgin olive oil or of that oil and the rest, so avoiding any possible mixing. They also have appropriate areas for storing the olives or the protected oil before it handling. The olives are milled within no more than 48 hours of harvesting, so preventing them from rotting and becoming more acid. The temperature during extraction never exceeds 30 °C during pressing and 45 °C during the centrifugation process.

Pressing time never exceeds 60 minutes and the temperature never exceeds 30 °C; there is only one pressing cycle.

La Rioja extra virgin olive oil is never refined.

The protected oil is stored in conditions which guarantee its conservation, preferably in stainless steel vats, presses or metal tanks lined with ceramic, epoxy resins or other food-grade inert material. These tanks are hermetically sealed and kept at a gentle and constant storage temperature never exceeding 22 °C.

The olive oil is packaged only if it has the physical and chemical characteristics listed under 4.2 and passes a taste test set by a Grading Committee.

To preserve the quality and ensure the traceability and inspection of the protected product, all the processes of production, reception, processing and packaging take place in the designated geographical area.

4.6. Link: Historic link: Olive oil, now a key element of the Mediterranean diet, has been a basic food in La Rioja, as well as being used for poultices and as rubbing oil, collected by the faithful for use in lamps in shrines and consumed or rubbed on painful spots while invoking virgins. For years olives preserved and prepared in the houses of farmers in La Rioja have served as an aperitif and a good snack when kept in cold water with salt, thyme, garlic and orange peel.

However, the Romans were the first to extract olive oil by pressing in La Rioja. An indication of this is the Roman counterweight found at Murillo de Río Leza and the oil store at a mill site in Alfaro, where two large oil stains may be seen.

There are written references to olive cultivation in the Province in the eighteenth century, as the only well-ordered crop, and to mills for processing, of which there were 42 in La Rioja, which fell to 39 in 1861, rose to 64 in 1945 and then in 1953 to 81 mills, one residue mills, four factories producing industrial soap and six producing ordinary soap, all of which used olive oil. In that century Berceo notes that oil from La Rioja was being exported to the Indies and northern Europe.

Madoz's ‘Diccionario Geográfico Estadístico Histórico de España y sus Posesiones de Ultramar’ (Historical statistical dictionary of Spain and its overseas possessions), mentions the importance of oil exports from Alfaro in 1846-50.

Natural factors: Olive trees in La Rioja are normally to be found on dry soils with little humus in their upper layers, rich in lime, clay and sand and with no impermeable layers, so having good drainage, limiting growth, particularly in the hot season, and so a correct hormonal balance which affects the future quality of the olives produced here by increasing the content of the fruit in oil, polyphenols, anthocyanins and aromas and lowering pH, malic acid, potassium and grassy flavours. A more fertile type of soil would result in excessive growth and, worse, growth spilling over into the period when the olives are ripening, so delaying ripening and preventing adequate maturing. There would also be more shade problems because of the greater density of foliage and abundance of vegetation and more fungal diseases resulting in lower quality.

The predominant climate in the protected geographical area, temperate Mediterranean with some continental features, mild winters, long hot summers and low rainfall which is, however, sufficient for this crop to grow correctly in drought, good light and slight fluctuations in temperature between day and night, is ideal for development of the olive tree, resulting in increased oil content, better aroma and lower total acidity.

The low winter temperatures at cold times, which are also necessary to ensure the subsequent flowering and fruiting of the tree, occur when it is in its state of vegetative rest with no leaves or fruit, a time when it can resist temperatures down to -10 °C. After its winter rest, the olive requires light and temperatures between 10 °C and 25 °C to develop correctly. The Mediterranean climate in the designated area provides adequate light and warmth but is not so fierce as to prevent photosynthesis and loss of leaves where evaporation from them cannot be compensated for from the roots.

The thermal gap which occurs only during maturation has a positive influence on the synthesis of anthocyanins.

Another factor which is also very important in securing a good harvest and so good oil is the olive grower, who adds care to all the region's natural assets. The olive growers in the area have considerable knowledge of the olive tree and use traditional cultivation techniques designed to result in a balanced grove perfectly designed to produce quality olive oil.

4.7. Inspection body:

Name: Instituto de Calidad Agroalimentaria de La Rioja. Address: Avda. de La Paz, 8-10, E-26071, Logroño (La Rioja) Tel.: 941 29 16 00 Fax: 941 29 16 02

4.8. Labelling: Labels must bear the wording Denominación de origen Protegida ‘Aceite de La Rioja’

4.9. National requirements:

— Basic Law No 3/1982 of 9 June 1982, Statute of Autonomy of La Rioja (amended by Basic Laws Nos 3/1994 of 24 March 1994 and 2/1999 of 7 January 1999).

— Law No 3/1995 of 8 March 1995 on the legal arrangements for the government and public administration of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja.

— Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992. Legal arrangements for the public administration and joint administrative procedure.

— Order of 25 January 1994 laying down the correspondence between Spanish legislation and Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on designation of origin and geographical indications for agricultural and food products.

— Royal Decree No 1643/1999 of 22 October 1999 laying down the procedure for applying for entry on the Community Register of Protected Designations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications.

(1) European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural Products Quality Policy Unit, B-1049 Brussels.