EN Official Journal of the European Union C 299/18

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

2009/C 299/08

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

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘PODKARPACKI MIÓD SPADZIOWY’

EC No: PL-PDO-0005-0578-05.12.2006

PGI ( ) PDO ( X )

1. Name:

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’

2. Member State or Third Country:

Poland

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Type of product (as in Annex II):

Class 1.4. Other products of animal origin, honey

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

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is liquid or crystallised honey produced from honeydew gathered by bees from the European silver fir (Abies alba). It may also contain honeydew from spruce (family Pinaceae, genus Picea) and from Scots pine (family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, species mainly Pinus sylvestris). However, honeydew from the European silver fir predominates and never accounts for less than 70 %. ‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ may contain traces of pollen from nectariferous plants or pollen grains from anemophilous plants. The pollen and other honeydew content must not result in any change to the honey’s characteristic taste or smell, and in particular, it must not result in non-compliance with any of the characteristic values referred to in this description.

Only bees of the following races are used in the production of ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’: Apis mellifera mellifera (dark European honeybee), Apis mellifera carnica (Carnolian bee), Apis mellifera caucasica (Caucasian honeybee).

Organoleptic characteristics

Before crystallisation, the honey ranges in colour from dark brown with greenish highlights to almost black, with an intensity of at least 82 mm on the Pfund scale. It has a thick, highly viscous consistency and, after crystallisation, which proceeds slowly and results in a finely granular texture, it takes on a somewhat lighter colour. It has a mildly sweet taste, with a typically resiny fragrance reminiscent of the needles of coniferous trees.

Physico-chemical characteristics

— water content — not more than 19 %,

— monosaccharide (glucose and fructose) content — not less than 50 %,

— sucrose content — not more than 4 %,

— melezitose content — around 3,5 %,

— HMF (5-hydroxymethylfurfural) content — not more than 30 mg/kg,

— diastase activity (Schade scale) — not less that 10,

— free acids — 20-40 meq/kg,

— electrical conductivity — not less than 1,C mS/cm,

— water-insoluble content — not more than 0,1 g/100 g,

— even if stored for several years, the honey does not ferment and high osmotic pressure prevents the development of microorganisms,

— the predominance of the reducing sugar fructose in relation to glucose slows down crystallisation of the honey and also enhances its taste,

— contains twice as many disaccharides as nectar-based honeys (maltose, trehalose, turanose), which have antioxidant properties.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only):

—

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

Bees may be fed only before winter, after their honey has been spun, and only white beet sugar or ready-made syrup (bee feed) containing at least 73 % sugar (glucose, fructose, sucrose) may be used. The white beet sugar and the sugar syrup do not need to originate from the area where ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is obtained. This does not affect the quality of the honey. If, owing to unforeseen external factors, the bees have to be fed at any other time, this can be done only after the Voivodship Bee-keepers’ Association in Rzeszów has notified the control body accordingly. If this process is used, it must be completed at least 14 days before the start of the honeydew-gathering period, during which supplementary feeding is prohibited.

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

All production steps — from the positioning of the hives to the final packaging of the honey — must take place in the defined geographical area.

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ may be harvested only in the period from the beginning of June to the end of September. The honey is cold-spun in a honey extractor using centrifugal force. After being clarified in tanks, the honey is decanted into various kinds of retail packaging. These are glass or stoneware containers with a capacity not exceeding 1 400 g. The honey should be kept away from light, at a temperature of 10-18 °C and no more than 65 % humidity. The honey must not be filtered (to remove pollen), creamed, pasteurised or artificially heated. The temperature of the honey must not exceed 42 °C at any stage in its production. The use of chemicals or other bee repellents, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, is forbidden during the process of harvesting the honey. The application of pharmaceutical products is prohibited during the honeydew gathering period.

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

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ must be packaged in the area defined in (4). This is because of traditional practices designed to ensure that the product is of an appropriate quality and aimed at monitoring and checking its origin. This avoids any risk of changes in the honey’s physico-chemical and organoleptic properties that might occur if it were transported over long distances. The requirement for packaging to take place in the area is also aimed at minimising the risk of ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ being mixed with other types of honey and of other honeys being sold under this protected name.

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

All beekeepers and entities engaged in the buying-in and further processing of honey under the protected name are required to use one type of label. Every label must include information on the capacity of the container and indicate the producer’s address, the veterinary register number and the serial number of the label. Labels will also include the Community symbol or the Community symbol and the inscription ‘Chroniona Nazwa Pochodzenia’ (Protected Designation of Origin). Labels will be distributed by the Voivodship Bee-keepers’ Association in Rzeszów. The Association forwards detailed rules to the inspection body concerning the distribution of labels. Such rules must not in any way discriminate against producers who produce ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ in accordance with the specification but do not belong to the Voivodship Bee-keepers’ Association in Rzeszów.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is harvested in 17 State forest districts (Nadleśnictwo Rymanów, Nadleśnictwo Komańcza, Nadleśnictwo Lesko, Nadleśnictwo Baligród, Nadleśnictwo Cisna, Nadleśnictwo Wetlina, Nadleśnictwo Stuposiany, Nadleśnictwo Lutowiska, Nadleśnictwo Brzegi Dolne, Nadleśnictwo Strzyżów, Nadleśnictwo Bircza, Nadleśnictwo Dukla, Nadleśnictwo Brzozów, Nadleśnictwo Dynów, Nadleśnictwo Kańczuga, Nadleśnictwo Radymno and Nadleśnictwo Krasiczyn) and in two national parks (Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy and Magurski Park Narodowy).

5. Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

Natural factors

The area in which ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is obtained is indicated in (4). With few exceptions, the soils in this area tend to be poor, falling within Classes IV and V. They are mainly brown soils, mostly leached, and podsolic soils, both powdery and clayey. Moor soils and alluvial soils occur in small amounts in the southern part of the area described. These soils and the topography (the Carpathian Foothills are located at an altitude of 350-600 m above sea level, and in the Lower Beskids and Bieszczady Mountains elevations reach 850 m above sea level) create ideal habitats for coniferous trees, in particular the European silver fir (Abies alba).

The fir is a highly sensitive species and therefore thrives only in a very favourable, clean environment. The variety that grows here — the European silver fir (Abies alba) — has historically been the most widespread variety in the Subcarpathian region. A very high proportion of the trees in the area’s forests are firs — the figure is put at 16,5 % — and the stands of fir have an average age of 87 years. In 2006, firs occupied about 67 784 ha of the forested area. In addition to two national parks, the area described contains 15 nature reserves — Jedlina, Rebece, Wilcze, Minokąt, Nad Trzciańcem, Mójka, Góra Chełm, Jażwiana Góra, Turnica, Krępak, Na Opalonym, Dybek, Chwaniów, Polanki and Hulskie — where protecting stands of fir is one of the key conservation aims. The Nadleśnictwo Stuposiany forest district also contains the fir tree with the biggest circumference — 505 cm — in any of Poland’s forests.

High precipitation (especially in winter), the resulting humidity of the air and stable high temperatures in the growing season create optimum conditions for honeydew-producing insects, namely conifer aphids (Lachnidae family) and scale insects (Margarodidae family). The presence of honeydew in the forests of the Subcarpathian region is therefore an annual phenomenon which occurs with varying intensity.

Historical and human factors

Wild-bee-keeping in the Subcarpathian region has some very old traditions and dates back to ancient times. Good natural conditions meant that bee-keeping developed very rapidly in this area. The first sources containing references to the keeping of wild bees date from the 15th century. In 1464, the various taxes paid by the inhabitants of Dębowiec, a small town near Jasło, included a honey tax. Bee-keeping ordinances, which are amongst the oldest in Poland, provide further evidence that wild-bee-keeping was highly developed in the Subcarpathian region. An ordinance of 1478 for the bee-keepers of Łańcut, Kańczuga and Tyczyn and the Biecz bee-keeping ordinance of 1538 set out detailed regulations governing the keeping of wild bees, and these have developed over the centuries. Honey and wax production far exceeded the needs of the local market and occupied an important place alongside other goods exported to the north via Kraków from this area. ‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ was ‘discovered’ as an export in the middle of the 20th century. In the 1950s, conifer honeydew honey, which fetched two to three times more than nectar honeys, was sought-after in western European countries and the USA. The year 1967 was a key year, when over 1 000 tonnes of forest honeydew was harvested in the Subcarpathian region. Interest grew in the forest as a ‘grazing area’ for bees that supplied them with a sweet substance called honeydew. In 1970, an apicultural research service was set up at the Regional Agricultural Experimental Establishment at Boguchwała near Rzeszów, one of its tasks being to forecast the availability of honeydew. It was the first such service in Poland and was set up pursuant to a decree of the Voivodship National Council in Rzeszów. The location was chosen because of the abundance of top-quality honeydew in the area’s forests. Since 1980, research done under the direction of Prof. H. Gałuszkowa has been continued by the Bee Research Department at the Agricultural University of Kraków.

A distinctive feature of bee-keeping in the Subcarpathian region is the large number of bee-keepers (more than 3 000) harvesting honey on a small-scale, using traditional methods. The popularity of bee-keeping and the bee-keepers’ great commitment to maintaining the quality of honey in this region is evidenced by the fact that the Voivodship Bee-keepers’ Association in Rzeszów, which brings together 54 local bee-keeping societies, has been active for more than 40 years. Regional bee-keepers’ cooperatives in Przemyśl, Jarosław and Jaśło are also active in the areas where ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is obtained.

The highly developed skills of local beekeepers are connected in particular with the maintenance of the traditional hive management method so closely associated with this area. These skills are also bound up with the siting of the hives, in particular with regard to the variability in honeydew levels and topography, the method of harvesting such a unique honey as ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’, the (cold) spinning of the honey and the rules on the storage and decanting of the honey.

The strict characteristic values imposed on ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’, in particular with the aim of maintaining its varietal purity and preventing its mixing with other honeys, can be adhered to only by exercising the greatest care as regards hive management and the harvesting and storage of the honey.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

The characteristic features attesting to the properties of ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ are:

— glucose and fructose content — not less than 50 %,

— average trisaccharide (melezitose) content — 3,5 %,

— electrical conductivity — not less than 1,C S/cm,

— colour — not less than 82 mm on the Pfund scale.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI):

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is a unique product that is closely linked to the area from which it originates. Its specific characteristics derive from the geographical area, which has natural coniferous forest cover and is typified by a very high proportion of European silver fir (Abies alba). The quality of the product is also determined by optimum climatic conditions (prolonged periods of stable high temperatures of 25-30 °C) and very high air humidity, which create specific conditions favouring the mass reproduction of honeydew-producing insects, namely aphids of the Lachnidae family and scale insects of the Margarodidae family. These conditions also have a beneficial impact on the production of honeydew by these insects.

The much higher than normal electrical conductivity typical of ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ demonstrates the high content of microelements which are important to health, such as magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, calcium, phosphorus and others. This characteristic property of the product is also a result of its origin because the soils on which the fir stand grows are rich in mineral salts which are taken up by the plants along with water and which then, after being secreted by honeydew-producing insects, find their way into the honey. ‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ owes its characteristic dark colour to green algae associated with the fir stand in the area described. Its high content of the trisaccharide melezitose attests to its origins in forested areas with a predominance of fir trees.

‘Podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ characteristically has a higher than average reducing monosaccharide content which, combined with moderate acidity, improves the flavour of the honey, giving it a less intense sweet taste.

Honey has been obtained over a very long period of time, without interruption, from fir trees in this area. The method of harvesting ‘podkarpacki miód spadziowy’ is closely linked with the skills of local bee-keepers. The high level of bee-keeping skills is reflected amongst other things by the many requirements to be met during the harvesting of the honey which, combined with the area’s unique features, make it possible to obtain honey that possesses the specific characteristics referred to in (5.2).

Reference to publication of the specification:

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

http://www.minrol.gov.pl/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabOrgId=1326&LangId=0