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: 2005-05-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Castile-Leon, designation of origin, fruit vegetable, location of production, product designation

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Official Journal of the European Union

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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

(2005/C 125/02)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Articles 7 and 12d of the above-
mentioned 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.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

‘PIMIENTO ASADO DEL BIERZO’

EC No: ES/00262/8.11.2002

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

This summary has been drawn up for information purposes only. For full details, in particular the produ-
cers covered by the PDO or PGI concerned, consult the complete version of the product specification
either at the national authorities or the department responsible at the European Commission. (1)

1.

Responsible department in the Member State:

Name:

Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación
Dirección General de Alimentación
Subdirección General de Denominaciones de Calidad y Relaciones Interprofesionales y
Contractuales.

Address: Paseo Infanta Isabel, no 1, E-28071 Madrid.

Tel.:

Fax:

(34) 913 47 53 94

(34) 913 47 54 10

2.

Group:

2.1. Name:

2.2. Address:

Promotora de la Indicación Geográfica Protegida ‘Pimiento Asado del Bierzo’

c/ Padre Santalla no 3, 2o Dcha.
24400-Ponferrada (León).

Tel.:

Fax:

987 41 19 73

987 41 42 14

2.3. Composition:

producers/processors (X) other ( )

3.

Type of product:

Class 1.6.: processed peppers

4.

Specification:

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1. N a me :

‘Pimiento Asado del Bierzo’

(1) European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture, Agricultural product quality policy, B-1049 Brussels.

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4.2. De scr i p ti on:

The product to be protected is the berry-shaped fruit of the pepper plant Capsicum annuum L which is
presented roasted, pealed and canned.

The raw material used belongs to the ‘El Bierzo’ ecotype. The fruit is triangular in shape and elon-
gated and has a smooth skin and three or four lobes. Its weight exceeds 160 grams, it has rounded
edges and the stem is not fissured. It is harvested without green patches when its colour ranges from
pale red to deep red.

The preserved roasted peppers are presented whole or in chunks, with their colour ranging from pale
to deep red and their surface slightly cracked. Their predominant flavour is marked by a slight
pungency due to a carbohydrate content of less than 5 %. After-taste is mild and only slightly
peppery. A typical smell of roasted peppers and smoke predominates. The flesh is tender due to the
low percentage of dietary fibre, which must not exceed 3 %. For every 100 grams of peppers, up to
1,5 cm2 of charred remains and up to 10 seeds are tolerated.

4.3. G e og r a p h i ca l a r e a :

The production and manufacturing area is in the middle of the Bierzo district, in the province of
Leon, which forms part of the Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon.

It comprises the following municipalities: Arganza, Bembimbre, Borrenes, Cabañas Raras, Cacabelos,
Camponaraya, Carracedelo, Carucedo, Castropodame, Congosto, Cubillos del Sil, Molinaseca, Ponfer-
rada, Priaranza, Sobrado, Villadecanes-Toral de los Vados and Villafranca del Bierzo.

4.4. Pr oof of or i g i n:

In order to guarantee that the product originates in the area:

1. The peppers covered must be grown exclusively on plots that are listed in the register of plots,

located in the geographical production area and planted with the Bierzo ecotype.

2. The cultivation practices must be those described under point 4.5.

3. The peppers covered must be processed only by the processing plants listed in the Regulating

Board's relevant register, using the method described under point 4.5.

4. To be listed in the registers, the operators must undergo an initial evaluation by the Regulating

Board with a view to verifying compliance with the requirements set out in the specification.

5. On the basis of the register, the Regulating Board carries out regular inspections on plots and at

processing plants, as well as checks on documentation and tests on the product.

6. The tests consist of physico-chemical, morphological and organoleptic analyses.

7. Only roasted peppers passing all the checks carried out throughout the process may be marketed

with the numbered label guaranteeing their origin.

4.5. M e th od of p r odu c ti on:

The plots suitable for the production of peppers covered by the designation must have soils with a
loamy texture, a pH between 5,0 and 7,0 and be planted with peppers of the Bierzo ecotype. Only
band or targeted irrigation, which prevents the base of the stalk coming into contact with the water,
is used. Harvesting is performed by hand and in various stages, selecting at each stage those peppers
which present the appropriate characteristics.

Transport to the processing plant is undertaken in such a way as to avoid any damage to the
peppers, in crates or other stackable containers adequately ventilated and protected from the rays of
the sun.

In line with the processing plant's work plan, the peppers are processed on arrival, stored or taken to
a holding room.

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The stores must be dry, free of humidity and dirt and of extraneous smells liable to affect the
product. The peppers are to be kept away from direct sunlight. Storage takes place in such a way as
to allow stocks to be rotated and removed at regular intervals. From harvesting to roasting not more
than five days may elapse, this period being extended to 10 days if from the time of their arrival at
the plant the peppers have remained in the holding room.

The cooking of the peppers takes place on a grill or in an oven. The fuel used may be wood (holm-
oak, oak, black poplar or chestnut) or gas (propane or natural).

Cooking time and cooking temperature depend on the type of oven used and the degree of ripeness
of the product.

After cooking, the stems, membranes, skins and seeds are removed by hand in the traditional way,
without the products being at any time submerged in water or chemical solutions. The covering
liquid which accompanies the peppers in their packaging is their own juice released after cooking.
Salt, olive oil or seed oil, lemon juice or citric acid may be added.

Packaging is in glass or metal containers of up to 780 grams of peppers, presented whole or in
chunks.

4.6. L i nk:

Background

There is evidence of pepper cultivation having started in Ponferrada in the middle of the 17th
century. The Ponferrada municipal archives contain a document, Libro de Actas 1653-1669,
in
which don Diego de Balboa complains to the mayor, don Pedro Gómez Bretón, and the town's
aldermen about the cultivation of peppers and asks for roasting to be prohibited and for consumption
to be reduced.

On his travels through the Bierzo region in 1792, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos refers in his diary to
the peppers of Bembibre.

A popular song, alleged to date back to the 19th century, tells of how the statue of the Virgen de la
Encina, patron saint of Ponferrada and the Bierzo region, is carried on her feast day by ‘the four
pimenteras of Ponferrada’.

The housewives in the region started the tradition of Bierzo roasted peppers and they became known
as the ‘pimenteras’.

The first small-scale cannery was built in 1818 in Villafranca del Bierzo, producing candied fruits to
start with; this event is chronicled in a book by Antonio Fernández Morales entitled ‘Ensayos poéticos
en dialecto berciano’, published in 1861.

In 1900, the firm Ledo, making and selling roasted peppers, took part in the Paris World Exhibition.

From 1974 onwards, as many as ten pepper canneries have been set up in the Bierzo region.

As a tribute to the pimenteras, there is a square in Ponferrada with a roundabout on which two-
metre high bronze statues represent four women peeling peppers.

Natural conditions

The designated area consists of a rift valley surrounded by mountains.

The Bierzo district is a natural region situated in the north-west of the Autonomous Community of
Castile-Leon and bordering on the regions of Galicia and Asturias. Its altitude ranges from 340 to
2 100 metres.

The pepper cultivation area is irrigated by the river Sil and its tributaries, the Cúa and the Burbia. It
therefore forms part of the Miño river basin.

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The soils given over to pepper cultivation have a loamy texture, are deep, light, porous and fairly well
drained. They are poor in organic matter, calcium, phosphorus and sodium and have a carbon/
nitrogen ratio of between 8 and 10. Their pH values are slightly acid, ranging between 5,5 and 7,0.

The Bierzo region enjoys a Mediterranean climate, (índice de mediterraneidad of 5.28). It is well-
suited to the growing of peppers as it enjoys many hours of sunshine, average annual temperatures
of 12,5 °C and an average annual rainfall of 800 mm.

The average period of frost, from 11 November to 4 April, generally makes it possible to plant the
peppers at the beginning of May and harvest them from the end of August to the beginning of
November.

In these conditions, the photosynthesis activity in the plant gives rise to a carbohydrate content of
less than 5 %, giving it a slightly bitter flavour and dietary fibre content of less than 3 %, a factor
accounting for its tenderness.

Processing conditions

The traditional method of roasting, using a grill or oven, gives the peppers a smoky flavour and after-
taste, which is not altered by adding a small quantity of olive oil, salt and lemon juice or citric acid.

The process of roasting, removing the membrane and skin by hand and the fact that no chemical
solutions are used and no washing even with water takes place could result in some charred frag-
ments or seeds remaining attached to the peppers.

4.7. Insp e c ti on b ody :

Name:

Consejo Regulador de la Indicación Geográfica Protegida ‘Pimiento Asado del Bierzo’

Address: C/ Ave María, 29, 1o, oficina 8.

24400-Ponferrada (León).

Tel.:

987 41 10 60

E-mail:

pimientobierzo@terra.es

The Regulating Board for the protected geographical designation ‘Pimiento Asado del Bierzo’ is the
inspection body responsible for guaranteeing compliance with the specifications, the Regulation and
the rules laid down. It fulfils the requirements laid down in standard EN-45011: ‘General criteria for
product certification bodies’.

4.8. L a b e lli n g :

Labels are approved by the Regulating Board. The words ‘Pimiento asado del Bierzo’ must appear in a
prominent place on the labels and back labels. Labels are numbered and are issued by the Regulating
Board.

4.9. N a ti ona l r e q u i r e me nt s:

— Law No 25/1970 of 2 December 1970 on rules governing viticulture, wine and spirits;

— Decree 835/1972 of 23 March 1972 on detailed rules for the implementation of Law No

25/1970;

— Order of 25 January 1994 specifying the correlation between Spanish law and Regulation (EEC)
indications for agricultural

No 2081/92 as regards designations of origin and geographical
products and foodstuffs;

— Royal Decree No 1643/1999 of 22 October 1999 on the procedure governing application for
entry into the Community register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical
indications;

— Organic Law No 4/1999 of 8 January 1999 amending Organic Law No 4/1983, Statute of

Autonomy of Castile-Leon.