EN Official Journal of the European Union C 99/18

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2012/C 99/10

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months of the date of this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘SALE MARINO DI TRAPANI’

EC No: IT-PGI-0005-0892-09.09.2011

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’

2. Member State or third country:

Italy

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Product type:

Class 1.8 — Other products of Annex I to the Treaty (spices, etc.)

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in point 1 applies:

The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ designates sea salt extracted from the salt pans of Trapani, Paceco and Marsala, located in the area demarcated in point 4.

The chemical reference elements for ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ are shown in the table below.

Aspect or element Units of measurement ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ Insoluble residue % < 0,2 Residual moisture % < 8 Sodium chloride (of dry matter) % > 97,0 Magnesium % < 0,70 Potassium % < 0,30 Calcium % < 0,40 Sulphates % < 1,5 Iron Mg/kg (ppm) < 20 Lead Mg/kg (ppm) < 1,5 Zinc Mg/kg (ppm) < 1 Copper Mg/kg (ppm) < 1 Chromium Mg/kg (ppm) < 0,15 Mercury Mg/kg (ppm) < 0,05 Cadmium Mg/kg (ppm) < 0,15 Arsenic Mg/kg (ppm) < 0,1 Iodine Mg/kg (ppm) > 0,70

Analytical determinations must be carried out according to the methods set out in the Codex Standard Alimentarius STAN 150-1985.

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ shall also have the following chemical-physical qualities in appearance:

colour: white;

consistent crystals;

mixed granule size;

no additives, bleaching agents, preservatives and/or anti-caking agents.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only):

—

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only):

—

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

All the production stages of ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’, from the production of salt in the salt pans to the collection and processing of the salt, must take place in the geographical area identified in point 4.

The processing cycle must include one or more of the following stages:

— washing against the tide in salt water coming from the tanks in the same production area,

— centrifugation,

— mechanical grinding process in local stone mills (grinding by the traditional wind mills) or in stainless steel rolling mills,

— drying in fluidised bed furnaces at a temperature of < 250 °C,

— mechanical sifting to select defined granule intervals.

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

—

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ is marketed in food-quality packaging bearing a non-reusable guarantee seal of capacities: 1 000 kg, 25 kg, 10 kg, 5 kg, 2 kg, 1 kg, 750 g, 500 g, 250 g, 120 g, 100 g.

The wrapping and packages should clearly and legibly state, in addition to the Community logo, ‘IGP — Sale Marino di Trapani’, which must be of a colour that strongly contrasts with that of the label itself so as to be clearly distinguishable from the other information provided on the label.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The geographical area of production of the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ consists of the Trapani, Paceco and Marsala municipalities (Provincia di Trapani). More specifically, this geographical area includes the salt pans along the coastal strip (known as ‘La via del Sale’) located south of the residential part of Marsala, north of Trapani, west of the Mediterranean Sea (including the Stagnone di Marsala Islands: Isola Grande and the islands of Mothia and Santa Maria) and east of strada statale (State road) 115 (SS 115).

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ is extracted from the salt pans of Trapani, Paceco and Marsala where the extremely clean waters of the Egadi Islands' natural marine reserve favours salt production and is found immediately at the coastline where the entire ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ production area is located. The low-lying terrain off the coast, which, in some cases, lies slightly below the average sea level, together with the extremely impermeable nature of the earth, contributes to the suitability of the area for the production of sea salt, making the salt works and its production facilities efficient and economical. Furthermore, the geographical position of the production area is characterised by the scarcity of fresh water and strong currents, which guarantee the constant level of salt and frequent replacement of supply water.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ is a completely natural salt with no additives, bleaching agents, preservatives or anti-caking agents and is highly valued for its purity by the Italian and EU processing industries.

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):

‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ has an age-old reputation in Italy and internationally, both commercially and in terms of consumption. In confirmation of the long tradition of production and collection of ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’, historical information exists concerning the commercialisation of the product, which goes back three thousand years to the times when the economy of the Phoenicians was centred on this so-called ‘white gold’. The first true testimony of the Trapani salt pans came from the Arab geographer, Al-Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad (better known as Idrisi or Edrisi), whose book, ‘The pleasure of him who longs to cross the horizons’, written for the Norman King Roger II of Sicily in 1154, tells of the salt pans found at the gate of the city of Trapani. For centuries, the salt pans were the calling card that allowed Trapani to make a name for itself in Europe, constituting the pride of an area that is naturally suited to producing salt thanks to the favourable climate with strong sun, constant wind and infrequent rain.

The statistics and trade data (Mondini 1999) confirm the reputation of ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ in the 16th and 17th centuries. After 1572, following the Turkish conquest of the Island of Cyprus, the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan chose Trapani as their preferred supply market over those of Berletta and Valona that were closer.

The reputation of ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ has lasted until the present day and has even been enhanced as a result of the establishment of the Riserva Naturale Orientata Isole dello Stagnone and the Riserva Naturale Orientata delle Saline di Trapani e Paceco. Further to these two events, the demand for ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ has increasingly spread, not only for its intrinsic quality as a product that is already commercially established, but also for the image of the area from which it originates, that is protected and monitored from an environmental point of view. It is no coincidence that the most sophisticated and select food industries, such as ham manufacturers in Emilia, dairies from Ragusa, and other canning industries from Sicily and Campania, choose to use ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ in their production processes, especially for its purity which was particularly valued in the early 1900s by the fish-canning industries in northern Europe.

This reputation is also confirmed (especially on an international scale) by the gold medal awarded on the occasion of the Exposición Internacional de Medicina e Higiene, Buenos Aires, in 1910.

The huge interest in the area may be seen in the ‘Via del Sale’ (salt road), defined as the coastal road that marks out the production area and links the cities of Trapani and Marsala from north to south, crossing through the municipality of Paceco, which was put forward as the Italian nomination for the 1995 European Tourism and Environment Prize, promoted by the European Union.

Reference to publication of the specification:

The Ministry launched the national objection procedure with the publication of the proposal for recognising ‘Sale Marino di Trapani’ as a protected geographical indication in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic No 163 of 15 July 2011.

The full text of the product specification is available on the following website:

http://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/3335

or

by going directly to the home page of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy (http://www.politicheagricole.it) and clicking on ‘Qualità e sicurezza’ (in the top right hand corner of the screen) and then on ‘Disciplinari di Produzione all’esame dell’UE’.

(1) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.