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 206/04)

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 recognised 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.

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION: ARTICLE 5

PDO ( ) PGI (x)

National application No: 9/2001

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

Address: Via XX Settembre, 20 - I-00187 Roma

Tel. (39-06) 481 99 68

Fax (39-06) 42 01 31 26

e-mail: qualita@politicheagricole.it

2. Applicant group 2.1. Name: Consorzio Tutela Salame d'oca di Mortara

2.2. Address: Corso Cavour, 73 - I-27036 Mortara (PV)

2.3. Composition: Producer/processor

3. Type of product: Prepared meats - Group 1.2

4. Specification (Summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1. Name: Salame d'oca di Mortara

4.2. Description: The salame d'oca di Mortara (Mortara goose sausage) weighs from 0,3 kg to 4 kg. Its interior is homogeneously solid and must not crumble. The goose skin casing must remain firmly attached to it. The mild delicate taste is typical of goose and the fragrance is marked by the presence of spices.

4.3. Geographical area: Production is in the geographically distinctive area of the communes comprising the Lomellina, a specific area in the Pavia Province of Lombardy Region.

4.4. Proof of origin: The word "sausage" evokes tastes and smells not normally associated with those evoked by the word "goose". Such a statement is not universally true. In the Lomellina, the part of Pavia Province lying between the rivers Po to the south, Ticino to the east and Sesia to the west, the historical and geographical centre of which is the town of Mortara, these two diverse culinary concepts come together in a product of long traditions, the salame d'oca di Mortara. As far back as the 15th century it was linked to the Jewish communities in the area. From the beginning of the last century what was a local speciality became known to a bigger public and has continued to enjoy ever widening fame.

The goose has been known since Roman times in this area, which with its plentiful springs of fresh water and abundance of tender herbage provides an ideal habitat. The goose-rearing tradition is therefore of great antiquity. By the 13th century Mortara was already famous, as contemporary documents show, for its geese and sausage. A notable impulse to goose-raising in the Lomellina came from an edict of Ludovico Sforza authorising settlement of groups of Jews, for whom goose sausage was a standard food given the Judaic prohibition on eating pork.

Of the various theories of the origin of salame d'oca di Mortara the most widespread is that goose by itself did not suffice to satisfy the taste of the majority of the non-Jewish consumers in the area and that probably some master sausagemakers of Mortara hit on the idea of combining it with the flesh of the pig. Such an explanation is also to be found in the authority Pellegrini Artusi, who in the first edition (1891) of his culinary treatise "Science in the kitchen and the art of eating well" testifies to preparation of a sausage like this in the Lomellina.

Traceability is guaranteed by producer obligations, including registration of the goose farmers, raw material suppliers, goose and pig slaughtermen, processors and packagers and production reporting along the chain from raw materials to packaged product (production and packaging registers). These obligations have been activated and are kept up to date by the inspection body.

4.5. Method of production: Salame d'oca di Mortara is made using the flesh of geese born, raised and slaughtered within the Regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. During the finishing period (last three months) they are fed exclusively on green fodder and cereals. The slaughtered animal must weigh not less than 4 kg. The pig flesh comes from animals born, raised and slaughtered within the Regions of Abruzzo, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardy, Marche, Molise, Piedmont, Tuscany, Veneto and Umbria and is obtained in line with the specifications for Prosciutto di Parma PDO or Prosciutto San Daniele PDO.

The raw materials are the lean parts of the goose (30/35 %), the lean parts of the pig (nape of neck and/or shoulder and/or other lean parts; 30/35 %) and the fatty parts of the pig (belly and/or cheek; 30/35 %). The goose skin, salted, trimmed and stitched with cotton thread, is used as casing for the sausage, which takes the form of the goose's neck or, if the back and belly skin is used, a cylinder. The meat and fat of the sausage are passed through a mincing machine with 8 mm to 10 mm holes. The seasoning mixture consists exclusively of sea salt, nitrates and/or nitrites, pepper and various natural flavourings. The cased sausages are pierced and tied up and kept in well ventilated chambers at a temperature ranging between 14 and 18 degrees for a minimum period for one to three days depending on size. After drying they are cooked in water at an average temperature of 80 °C and then cooled.

4.6. Link: The rural tradition considered geese as poultry to be assigned to the care of women. It was not uncommon to see them being taken to graze and drink by young girls with a staff in their hand. Rearing began in spring and finished in late autumn, when the geese were slaughtered after forced fattening on maize. The animals went in part for sausage production and in part to the rearing families' winter food stores. Numerous historical documents speak of the necessary practice of raising geese in this particular area and also of the serious damage they caused when grazing. It is interesting to note that around 1800 specific measures were adopted on geese such as a prohibition on grazing of them and institution of the figure of public goose watchman. And so the bird was raised and protected, for fattening and plucking to feed the poorer classes and keep them warm but also as a field scavenger, since being a herbivore it destroyed the weeds when grazing. During the years of strong economic growth in Italy goose-raising declined rapidly but the traditional rearing revived at the end of the 60s after a number of Mortara charcuterie producers in 1967 launched the Mortara Goose Sausage Festival, specifically named after and intended to promote the traditional product. Held on the last Sunday of September, it is now the town's biggest event and has helped the product achieve its fame. In the meantime its merits and originality have resulted in an increasing volume of imitation and hence a need to safeguard one of the sausages richest in tradition.

Given the attention and care that production requires it has to be non-industrial. The smallness of the producing enterprises may be a restricting factor but is a guarantee of quality.

4.7. Inspection body Name: Certiquality - Istituto di certificazione della qualità - Settore Certiagro

Address: Via G. Giardino, 4 - I-20123 Milano

4.8. Labelling: The packaging in which the product is put up for sale must carry in clear, indelible printed characters, easily distinguishable from all other writing on the label, the words Salame d'oca di Mortara and Indicazione Geografica Protetta. The latter must form a combination with the logo for Salame d'oca di Mortara PGI. This is depicted with colorimetric indices in a handbook. It is a blue oval seal within which are shown the shape of the Lomellina in green, a white goose and the Abbey of Sant'Albino and two ears of rice in yellow.

Salame d'oca di Mortara is marketed whole or sliced, in airtight or vacuum packs.

4.9. National requirements: -

EC No: IT/00208/2001.9.28.

Date of receipt of full application: 15 May 2003.