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
Date: 2004-03-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Catalonia, designation of origin, labelling, location of production, olive oil, product designation, product quality

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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

(2004/C 61/06)

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.

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION: ARTICLE 5

PDO (x)

PGI (

)

National application No: 93

1.

Responsible department in Member State

Name:

Subdirección General de Sistemas de Calidad Diferenciada — Dirección General de Alimen-
tación — Secretaría General de Agricultura y Alimentación del Ministerio de Agricultura,
Pesca y Alimentación de España

Address: Paseo Infanta Isabel, 1, E-28071 Madrid

Tel.

(34) 913 47 53 94

Fax

(34) 913 47 54 10

2. Applicant group

Names:

Addresses:

(a)

Joaquim Blanc i Tejedor (DNI (national identity card) No 72960812), representing the Coop-
erativa Agrícola d'Arnes SCCL (NIF (tax code) No 43014067F), of 4 c/Onze de Setembre, Arnés;

(b) Francesc Martí i Alcoverro (DNI No 40901659), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola i Caixa

Rural SCCL (NIF No 43014067F), of 2 c/Estació, Bot;

(c) Francesc Sabaté i Tarragó (DNI No 77880592), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola Sant Isidre

SCCL (NIF No 43014281), of Av. Generalitat (s/n), Caseres;

(d) Josep Pere Colat i Clua (DNI No 40926368), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola de Corbera

SCCL (NIF No 473013994), of c/Sant Marc (s/n), Corbera d'Ebre;

(e)

Joan R. Comelles i Albesa (DNI No 77884411), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola Sant Isidre
SCCL (NIF No 43011774), of 77 Av. Misericórdia, La Fatarella;

(f) Pere Royo i Pedrola (DNI No 40919484), representing Celler Cooperatiu Gandesa SCCL (NIF No

43011816F), of 28 Av. Catalunya, Gandesa;

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(g) Pere Joan Llop i Barrubés (DNI No 77881340), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola Terra Alta

SCCL (NIF No 43013671F), of C/Glorietes (s/n), La Pobla de Massaluca;

(h) Carlos Bel i Espinós (DNI No 39995411), representing Olis La Franja SL (NIF No 43251032), of

Crta. de Tortosa (s/n), Horta de Sant Joan;

(i)

Josep Santiago Subirats Mulet (DNI No 40906133), representing Subirats d'Horta de Sant Joan SL
(NIF No 43594852), of 29 c/Medi Natural, Horta de Sant Joan;

(j) Rafael Solé i Urgell (DNI No 77779213), representing the same, of 18 c/Gandesa, Vilalba dels

Arcs;

(k) Josep Manuel García i Lorente (DNI No 40004330), representing the Cooperativa Agrícola i

Secció de Crèdit de Flix SCCL (NIF No 43011790), of 75 c/Major, Flix.

Composition: producer/processor (x)

other (

)

3.

Type of product: Extra virgin olive oil — Class 1.5 Oils and fats

4.

Specification

(Summary of requirements under Article 4(2)):

4.1. N a m e :

‘Aceite de Terra Alta’ or ‘Oli de Terra Alta’

4.2. D e s c r i p t i o n : Extra virgin olive oil made from fruit of Olea Europea L. trees of the Empeltre
variety or a mix of Empeltre and the Arbequina, Morruda and Farga secondary varieties, using either
mechanical or physical means which do not alter the oil and preserve the taste, aroma and charac-
teristics of the fruit from which it is made.

Empeltre is the principal variety by virtue of its predominance in the area of production.

The characteristics of olive oil of the Terra Alta designation of origin are as follows:

Organoleptic:

Appearance

Completely clear — without clouds or fogginess

Colour

Taste

Yellow (ranges from pale yellow to old gold)

Satisfying fruity taste at the beginning of the olive oil year. Becomes slightly sweeter as
the year progresses. Flavour somewhat reminiscent of almonds and unripe walnuts

Minimum panel test
score

6,5

Physical/chemical:

Maximum acidity (% of oleic acid)

Maximum peroxide index (mEq 02/kg)

Maximum K270

Maximum K232

Maximum moisture and volatile substances (%)

Maximum impurities (%)

0,50

18

0,20

2,50

0,20

0,10

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4.3. G e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a : The area of production comprises the Terra Alta area and a number of
municipalities in the Ribera d'Ebre area, both areas being situated in the southeastern part of the
Autonomous Community of Catalonia.

The municipalities concerned are as follows:

Arnes

Batea

Bot

Caseres

Terra Alta

Ribera d'Ebre

Corbera d'Ebre

Pinell de Brai

Ascó

Gandesa

Pobla de Massaluca

Flix (except sections 13,
18, 19, 20 and 21)

Horta de Sant Joan

Prat de Comte

Ribaroja d'Ebre

La Fatarella

Vilalba dels Arcs

The first-processing and market preparation area is the same as the area of production.

4.4. P r o o f o f o r i g i n : The olives sent to the mills come from groves situated in the area of
production and are selected, dressed and packed at plants situated in the area of production and
registered with the Regulatory Council. Provided it satisfies the production and market-preparation
checks and the physical and chemical and organoleptic tests, the oil obtained from those olives is
marketed under the designation of origin and with a front label, back label or, where applicable, a
numbered quality label issued by the Regulatory Council.

4.5. M e t h o d o f p r o d u c t i o n :

(a) Growing:

Spacing: generally corresponds to a density of 50 to 80 trees per hectare.

Soil preparation and pruning: those typically practised in the area of production.

Pruning removes the older wood, giving the tree a rounded shape which encourages fruit
production and facilitates harvesting.

The breakdown between dry and irrigated land is currently 90 % and 10 %.

Harvesting: begins in mid-November and lasts until the end of January. It involves picking the
olives manually, direct from the tree/shaking the latter using vibrating machines.

(b) Oil production:

The PDO extra virgin olive oil is obtained from sound olives of approved varieties, picked, with
the greatest care, direct from the tree, when the olives are at their best in terms of ripeness. After
the olives have been transported to the mills under conditions designed to preserve their quality, a
number of mechanical processes are carried out which include washing, pressing, beating of the
paste, separation of the various phases, and storage. After quality evaluation the olive oil is placed
in containers of up to five litres.

The olives must be pressed within 48 hours of being picked, to avoid impairing the quality. The
olive oil must come from olives of the principal variety, i.e. Empeltre, or from a mix of Empeltre
and the secondary varieties Arbequina, Morruda and Farga.

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Only oil made from olives grown on trees that are five years old or more can qualify for the
Aceite de Terra Alta PDO.

The entire process, i.e. from production to labelling, takes place in the defined geographical area
to ensure quality and traceability.

Quality: Virgin olive oils are highly sensitive to external agents, which can alter or affect them in
many ways. For that reason it is essential for this type of oil that the entire process takes place in
the same geographical area.

Traceability: as regards inspection and certification, for the proper functioning of the certifying
body it is essential that the entire process takes place in the defined geographical area.

4.6. L i n k

Historical

Olive-growing was most likely introduced into Catalonia and, therefore, Terra Alta, by the Arabs,
olive oil mills still being known locally as almazaras, a word of Arabic origin.

In 1948, in a book entitled ‘Mis Memorias’, Antoni Mascaró wrote that in about 1787 the most
widespread form of production in the municipality of Batea was olive-growing, followed by cereals
and vines ‘. . . the solid opulence of the area was to a large extent attributable to olive oil production,
which that year reached 21 000 cántaros, i.e. 31 920 Castilian arrobas (350 tonnes)’. This means that
a town which at the time had a population of fewer than 1 000 inhabitants would have been
producing about 1 800 tonnes of olives.

In his Diccionario Geográfico (1847), Pascual Madoz writes that in 1847 the Gandesa area produced
large quantities of high-quality olive oil, wheat and rye. Again according to Madoz, olive-growing was
by far the biggest form of cultivation in what is now Terra Alta, far outstripping present levels of
production.

Towards 1900, olive groves were the second most important form of cultivation in the Terra Alta
area, accounting for more than 28 % of the farmland, the actual figure per municipality ranging from
20 to 44 %. The municipalities with the largest olive-growing area were Batea, La Fatarella and Horta
de Sant Joan. Olive oil production was about 2 000 tonnes.

Empeltre is, in the Terra Alta area, the principal and in some cases the only variety of olive grown. A
variety whose origin dates back in time, its name derives from the Catalan word ‘empelt’ (graft), in all
probability because it was grafted onto older varieties grown in the Baix Aragon and Vall de l'Ebre
areas. Such are the importance and specific characteristics of the Empeltre variety in the Terra Alta
area that it is referred to as the Terra Alta variety in tree nurseries.

Natural:

The characteristics of the olive oil are influenced by the environment as follows:

Although it has,
like most olive-growing areas, a Mediterranean climate, the relief of the area is
responsible for a special microclimate which has a direct effect on the biological cycle of the olive
tree and, by the same token, on the olives.

The three key aspects of the relief are as follows:

(1) Altitude: the area is on a plateau whose average altitude is 400 metres above sea level;

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(2) Natural barriers: the area is at a meeting point between three mountain ranges: the Pàndols and
the Cavalls, which rise up to 700 metres, and — to the south — Els ports de Beseit, which is up
to 1 400 metres high. It is the resulting relief which helps to produce the above-mentioned
microclimate.

(3) Winds: in addition to, and as a consequence of, the above, the winds in the area are of major
importance, not so much because of their intensity (which is not excessive), but because of what
they contribute to the growing conditions. The two most important are the Garvinada and the
Cerç, the former because it provides the necessary moisture and the latter because, thanks to its
i.e. the
it prevents many fungal diseases by helping the raw materials,
nature and frequency,
olives, to ripen without problem and reach the olive oil mills in the best possible state.

4.7. I n s p e c t i o n b o d y

Name:

Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de origen ‘Aceite de Terra Alta’

Address: 1 Bassa d'en Gaire, E-43780 Gandesa (Tarragona)

Tel.

977 42 00 18

The Consejo Regulador complies with standard EN-45011.

4.8. L a b e l l i n g : Must include the words ‘Aceite de Terra Alta’. The labels must be approved by the

Consejo Regulador.

4.9. N a t i o n a l r e q u i r e m e n t s

— Ley 25/1970, de 2 de diciembre, ‘Estatuto de la Viña, del Vino y de los Alcoholes’,

— Decreto 835/1972, de 23 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el reglamento de la Ley 25/1970,

— Orden de 25 de enero de 1994 por la que se precisa la correspondencia entre la legislación
española y el Reglamento CEE 2081/92, en materia de Denominaciones de origen e Indicaciones
geográficas de productos agrícolas y alimentarios,

— Real Decreto 1643/1999, de 22 de octubre, por el que se regula el procedimiento para la
tramitación de las solicitudes de inscripción en el Registro Comunitario de las Denominaciones
de Origen Protegidas y de las Indicaciones Geográficas Protegidas.

EC No: ES/00245/21.06.2002.

Date of receipt of the full application: 21 August 2003.