EN Official Journal of the European Union C 174/19

Publication of an 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

(2016/C 174/09)

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 (2)

‘MELANNURCA CAMPANA’

EU No: IT-PGI-0105-01337 — 18.5.2015

PDO ( ) PGI ( X ) TSG ( )

1. Applicant group and legitimate interest

‘Consorzio di Tutela Melannurca Campana’ (Melannurca Campana protection association) Via Verdi 29 81100 Caserta ITALIA Tel. +39 08232325144 Email: melannurcaigp@coldiretti.it

The ‘Consorzio di Tutela Melannurca Campana’ (protection association) is entitled to submit an amendment application pursuant to Article 13(1) of Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy Decree No 12511 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 — ☒ Method of production — ☐ Link — ☒ Labelling — ☒ Other (Updated legal references; control body)

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)

Description of product

— The indication of the weight of both varieties of the fruit is deleted from the product specification. The weight of the fruit directly correlates to the diameter, so this information is superfluous as the minimum diameter of the fruit is already indicated in the specifications. The proposed amendment aims to facilitate operations after harvesting because operators have calibrators, especially those of the first generation, that are not always equipped to determine weight as well as size, which causes them to incur extra costs.

Method of production

— The third paragraph of the product specification: ‘In addition to Franco apple rootstocks (grown from the seed of the same species as that which is grafted) and standard vase-shaped growing forms, cloned rootstocks and hedgerow or trained forms (fan, quenouille-trained, and similar) are also considered suitable, with a number of plants per hectare that may vary up to a maximum of 1 200.’ is amended as follows: ‘The recommended planting system is single row, to ensure the best exposure to direct sunlight with a number of plants per hectare that may vary up to a maximum of 1 666.’ The cultivation of ‘Melannurca Campana’ PGI is permitted in suitable orchards, provided that the excellent quality characteristics of the product are guaranteed. The amendment of planting distances corresponds to the increase in plant density from 1 200 to 1 666 per hectare. This amendment also aims to apply new environmental and physical knowledge about orchards to the PGI ‘Melannurca Campana’. The right interplay between different cultivation parameters (rootstock, planting distances, plant management, etc.) provides for a better balance between the growing and fruit-bearing stages and makes for more compact plants with multiple benefits with regard to the quality of the fruit and production costs.

— The fourth paragraph of the product specification ‘Maximum production per unit allowed for “Melannurca Campana” apples entitled to bear the PGI label is 33 tonnes per hectare, allowing for annual variations according to weather conditions’. is amended as follows: ‘Maximum production per unit allowed for “Melannurca Campana” apples entitled to bear the PGI label is 45 tonnes per hectare, allowing for annual variations according to weather conditions’. The amendment of planting distance and plant density per hectare has resulted in an amendment of production per unit of fruit per hectare. This amendment ensures lower fruit production per plant than previously. Higher plant density per hectare has enabled production per hectare to be increased compared with the current specification while considerably decreasing average production per plant (approximately 23 kg/plant compared with approximately 27,5 kg/plant). Lower production per plant not only ensures better ripening of the fruit, but is also one of the strategies that producers of ‘Melannurca Campana’ PGI intend to pursue in order to obtain quality products.

— The phrase ‘Irrigation water should have a salt content no greater than 1,1 ECW’ is removed. Modern irrigation systems, which consume low amounts of water, overcome the problems caused by irrigation water salinity by using only the amount of water that the plant actually needs; therefore, the risk of high salt concentrations does not arise.

Labelling

— The following paragraph of Article 7 is deleted: ‘Users of the product with the typical geographical indication (indicazione geografica tipica — IGT) label shall be authorised by those that hold the intellectual property right through the registration of the PGI, who are members of a protection association designated by the Ministry of Agricultural Policy. This designated association shall also be responsible for registering these users and monitoring the correct use of the typical geographical indication. In the absence of a designated protection association, those tasks shall be carried out by the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policy as the national authority for the implementation of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92’. We believe that the above paragraph concerning users of ‘Melannurca Campagna’ PGI in processed products should be removed from the product specification as it is not applicable to the product specification. A representation of the product logo, corresponding to the description in the summary sheet and the product specification, shall be included.

Other

— Legal references to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council should be updated.

— References to the inspection body responsible for checking the product specification should be included in the product specification.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘MELANNURCA CAMPANA’

EU No: IT-PGI-0105-01337 — 18.5.2015

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1. Name(s)

‘Melannurca Campana’

2. Member State or Third Country

Italy

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.6. Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed

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

When ready for consumption, the fresh product should have the following characteristics:

— For the Annurca variety — shape: the fruit may be flattened and roundish or a short, truncated cone shape, symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical; — dimensions: 60 mm in diameter (minimum permitted values); in the case of apples from Franco stock, the fruit may be 55 mm in diameter per fruit (minimum permitted values); — peel: moderately thick or thick; colour at the time of harvest should be greenish yellow with red streaks on 50-80 % of the skin and red surface colour on 90-100 % of the skin after the period of reddening on the ground; in the case of apples from Franco stock, moderately thick or thick skin is permitted, colour at the time of harvest should be greenish yellow with red streaks on 40-70 % of the skin and red surface colour on 85-95 % of the skin after reddening on the ground; — skin: smooth, waxy, with numerous little lenticels (not very noticeable), moderately russeted, particularly in the stalk cavity; — flesh: white, very compact, crunchy, not too sweet and not too sharp, quite juicy, scented and with an excellent taste; — resistance to handling: very good; — firmness: (measured by 11 mm-pointed tip penetrometer) at the time of harvest no less than 8,5 kg, at the end of storage no less than 5 kg; in the case of Franco stock, firmness at the time of harvest as measured by penetrometer of 9 kg and at the end of storage 5 kg (minimum permitted values); — refractometer residue: at the time of harvest, 11,5 °Bx, at the end of storage, 12 °Bx (minimum values); — titratable acidity: at the time of harvest no less than 9,0 meq/100 ml of juice; at the end of storage no less than 5,6 meq/100 ml of juice.

— For the Rossa del sud variety: — shape: the fruit may be flattened and roundish or a short, truncated cone shape, symmetrical or slightly asymmetrical; — dimensions: no less than 60 mm in diameter; — peel: moderately thick, yellow in colour with red surface colour on 90-100 % of the skin; — skin: smooth, waxy, with numerous little lenticels (not very noticeable), and traces of russeting, particularly in the stalk cavity; — flesh: white, compact, crunchy, not too sweet and not too sharp, juicy, scented and with a good taste; — resistance to handling: very good; — firmness: (measured by 11 mm-pointed tip penetrometer) at the time of harvest no less than 8,5 kg, at the end of storage no less than 5 kg; — refractometer residue: at the time of harvest, 12 °Bx, at the end of storage, 12,5 °Bx (minimum values); — titratable acidity: at the time of harvest no less than 7,7 meq/100 ml of juice, at the end of storage no less than 5,0 meq/100 ml of juice.

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

—

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

The cultivation, manual harvesting and reddening of the fruit must take place within the territory defined above at point 4.

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

—

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

The following items must appear on the labels in clear, indelible print:

— the mark ‘I.G.P. MELANNURCA CAMPANA’, followed by the name of the variety ‘ANNURCA’ or ‘ROSSA del SUD’;

— the name, business name and address of the producer;

— the quantity of the product contained within the packaging;

— the PGI logo, a stylised apple against a white background, whose lower edge and upper left edge are red while the upper right edge is green.

Products prepared using ‘Melannurca Campana’ PGI, even after development and processing, may be released for consumption in packaging bearing the reference to this designation without the addition of the EU logo provided that:

— only fruits that conform with this specification are used, except for size and refractometer residue, which may be less than provided for in Article 6 but never below 50 mm in diameter and 10,5 °Bx residue;

— the weight relationship between the amount of ‘Melannurca Campana’ PGI used and the amount of derived product is precisely stated;

— the use of ‘Melannurca Campana’ PGI is attested by production certificates issued by the competent bodies;

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area of the PGI ‘Melannurca Campana’, comprises municipalities within the provinces of Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, Naples and Salerno, as detailed in the product specification.

5. Link with the geographical area

Cultivation of the Annurca apple has always characterised the countryside of Campania thanks to the favourable soil and weather conditions which have allowed it to spread wherever the land, whether due to the soil composition or to the rainfall (6 000-7 000 m3/ha from spring to autumn), has a depth suitable for the roots, i.e. greater than 80 cm, has limestone values of less than 10 and a salt content expressed in μs/cm of less than 2. The Annurca apple starts to flower and to germinate late, thus escaping the negative consequences of low temperatures coinciding with flowering and germination. The area involved in production of the PGI is characterised by good drainage and the ground is notable for its mixed composition (light loam), and for a pH between 6,5 and 7,5. The human factor which closely accompanies the entire production cycle of the Annurca apple is fundamental, from cultivation to harvest and ultimately to the creation of melai (plots where the apples are laid out on the ground) and the techniques for reddening. The relationship between the Annurca and Campania is very ancient, a link which began in the Roman era in the Phlegraean Fields (Pozzuoli area), it became firmly established over the centuries and has progressively grown to involve many other areas within the region, areas — chosen for their environmental suitability — which have required centuries of patient toil on the part of the local agricultural workers. Since time immemorial and in every text on the subject, the Annurca apple has been synonymous with Campania.

In Campania, known as Campania felix by the Romans for its exceptional geographical situation, there has been a rich and varied tradition of fruit cultivation for millennia; the Annurca apple takes pride of place in this and it is called, for good reason, the ‘queen of apples’. Uncovering the roots of the Annurca means returning to elements of the glorious ancient past since it is recognisable in paintings at Pompeii, and in particular those inside the Casa dei Cervi at Herculaneum. This suggests that the ancient inhabitants of those areas were eating these apples even then. Pliny the Elder first describes them in his monumental encyclopaedia Naturalis Historia.

Reference to publication of the specification

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

The Ministry launched the national objection procedure with the publication of the proposal for amending the product specification for the PGI ‘Melannurca Campana’ in Official Gazette of the Italian Republic No 63 of 17 March 2015.

The consolidated text of the product specification is available on the internet: 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 IGP’ (at the top right-hand side of the screen), then on ‘Prodotti DOP IGP 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.