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
Date: 2006-12-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Galicia, designation of origin, labelling, location of production, mollusc, product designation, product quality

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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

(2006/C 320/07)

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 from the date of
this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

Application for registration according to Article 5 and Article 17(2)

‘MEJILLÓN DE GALICIA’ or ‘MEXILLÓN DE GALICIA’

EC No: ES/PDO/005/0156/10.10.2000

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary has been drawn up for information only. For full details, interested parties are invited to
consult the full version of the product specification obtainable from the national authorities indicated in
section 1 or from the European Commission (1).

1.

Responsible department in the Member State:

Name:

Subdirección General de Calidad y Promoción Agroalimentaria. Dirección General de Indus-
tria Agroalimentaria y Alimentación. Secretaría General de Agricultura y Alimentación.
Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación

Address: Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, no 1

E-28071 Madrid

(34) 913 47 53 94

(34) 913 47 54 10

Tel.:

Fax:

e-mail:

sgcaproagro@mapya.es

2.

Group:

Name:

Address:

Tel.:

Fax:

Organización de Productores de Mejillón de Galicia (OPP-18) Orden Ministerial de 30
de diciembre de 1986 (BOE no 23 de 27 de Enero de 1987)

Av de la Marina 25 — Planta baja
E-36600 Vilagarcia de Arousa (Pontevedra)

(34) 986 50 13 89

(34) 986 50 65 49

e-mail:

—

Composition: Producers/processors ( X ) Other ( )

3.

Type of product:

Class 1.7.: Fresh fish, molluscs and crustaceans and products derived therefrom

(1) European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural Product Quality Policy,

B-1049 Brussels.

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4.

Specification (summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1. Name:

‘Mejillón de Galicia’ or ‘Mexillón de Galicia’

4.2. Descr iption: Fresh mussels of the species Mytilus galloprovincialis, cultivated using rafts.

This is a bivalve mollusc whose shell consists of two identical valves of calcium carbonate covered by a
layer called the periostracum. The high productivity of the Galician rías [flooded river valleys] generates
a wealth of marine flora and fauna, as a result of which species such as barnacles, polychaets,
bryozoans and algae often adhere to the periostracum.

The meat inside is normally creamy orange in colour and comprises two fleshy lobules with a sinuous
dark violet band running along the edge.

In order for the mussels to be covered by the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Mejillón de Galicia’
when they reach the fresh-consumption market, they must pass through a purification/dispatch centre
in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 853/2004. They must also be purified using sea water from the
Galician rías in the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra to ensure that the quality and characteristics
deriving from geographical factors linked to cultivation remain unchanged.

4.3. Geographical area: The cultivation area will be the internal maritime area of the Galician rías in
the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra, which are authorised to cultivate mussels using rafts. It will
comprise the following areas: Ría de Ares-Sada, Ría de Muros-Noia, Ría de Arousa, Ría de Pontevedra
and Ría de Vigo.

The purification/dispatch area is the coastal provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra.

4.4. Proof of or igin: The Regulatory Board will create a ‘register of rafts’ and conduct the necessary peri-
odic checks aboard the rafts in order to confirm whether the conditions which entitled them to be
listed still apply. The Board will also check the cultivation processes to ensure that these comply with
the conditions in the specification, and make a note of all this in the relevant documentation.

Once the cultivated mussels reach port, a certification document will be issued for each batch, stating
all the data identifying origin, the batch characteristics obtained by sampling, the farmer and the
consignee. A unique identifier code will be allocated at this stage in order to ensure traceability.

In order to be covered by the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Mejillón de Galicia’ when it reaches the
fresh-consumption market, each batch of mussels entering the purification/dispatch centres must have
the relevant documentation. The Regulatory Board will create a ‘register of purification/dispatch centres’
and conduct the necessary periodic checks in order to confirm whether the conditions which entitled
them to be listed still apply. The Board will also check the processes and products to ensure that these
comply with the conditions in the specification, and make a note of all this in the relevant documenta-
tion. The processes for treating the mussels inside the purification/dispatch centres must comply with
the rules issued by the technical services of the Regulatory Board for the Protected Designation of
Origin so that the requirements for checking traceability are met.

4.5. Method of production: This will be the traditional method used in Galicia. It is carried out on
board a floating structure called a raft [batea], which has a maximum surface area of five hundred and
fifty square metres. The ropes may not exceed five hundred in number and will be no more than
twelve metres in length.

The cultivation stages will be: obtaining the seed, pre-fattening the seed, thinning and harvesting. Once
the cultivated molluscs attain marketable size and condition, the mussel ropes suspended from the raft
are raised (until then, they have been submerged in the sea). This is done using hydraulic cranes located
on board the auxiliary cultivation boats. The ropes are hoisted and immediately handled so that the
mussels are removed from them.

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Once on land, the entire batch undergoes random testing by the inspection services in order to deter-
mine the product's yield and classification, and to ensure that all the obligatory conditions have been
met. This process is documented and registered, and will accompany and identify the batch.

Mussels from a cultivation area which, for microbiological purposes, is classified as area ‘B’, will be
required to be taken to a purification centre where they will be purified using water which must come
from the Galician rías in the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra. If the mussels come from a cultiva-
tion area classified for microbiological purposes as area ‘A’, they may be dispatched directly to the
market from a dispatch centre. In both cases, the centres are responsible for conditioning the mussels
so that they meet the requirements in Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

Once the mussels have been conditioned so that they meet the market-entry criteria (i.e. once they
have been purified and had the byssus removed, as appropriate), they are handled and conditioned in a
conventional atmosphere, under vacuum, or in a protected atmosphere. They are presented in accord-
ance with market requirements, using materials authorised under applicable legislation,
in different
formats and weights which form independent sales units. A control label and tamper-proof seal are
attached to the latter for the purposes of guaranteeing traceability.

Packaging must take place in the geographical area described in section 4.3 of the present summary.

This restriction is justified for the purposes of preserving product quality, given:

— the perishable nature of the product,

— its susceptibility to degradation,

— the high risk of deterioration due to improper handling.

In addition, the mussels must be purified using sea water from the Galician rías in the provinces of A
Coruña and Pontevedra in order to ensure that the quality and characteristics deriving from geogra-
phical factors linked to cultivation (accredited in section 4.6) remain unchanged. The purification/
dispatch centres will accordingly be located near the coast.

Furthermore, as stated in the actual definition of a dispatch centre which is laid down in the aforemen-
tioned Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, these will be ‘any on-shore or off-shore establishment for the
reception, conditioning, washing, cleaning, grading, wrapping and packaging of live bivalve molluscs fit
for human consumption’.

4.6. Link: Historical link: mussels have from earliest times been a food source for the first inhabitants of
the Galician coast. There is ample evidence of this in the castros [fortified villages] and in historical
documents (Navaz, 1942, Vázquez Varela and García Quintela, 1998, VVAA 1988 and 1998, Senén-
López Gómez, 1999). Following on from these beginnings, one should highlight that mussels have
featured in the most outstanding gastronomic events from the past (e.g. at the Spanish Hapsburg court,
in escabeche real). There is no doubt that the history of Galicia and its coast is closely linked to mussels.
This relationship thus dates back to the sixth century BC and continues to the present day, as evidenced
by the multitude of place-names, personal names and gastronomic festivals (mejillonadas), etc. Galicia's
very landscape would be inconceivable today without the rafts in its rías, reflecting the development of
the mussel sector. A specific vocabulary with words deriving from mussel cultivation has even been
coined: mexilla (breeding of mussels), thinning (part of the production process), etc. Such is the histor-
ical tradition that it has engendered a specific system of cultivation which is recognised internationally
as the Galician system, with equipment and materials of dedicated design, and traditional working
methods which result in a distinctive product (López Capont, 1973; López Capont and Fidalgo
Fernández, 1977; Otero Pedrayo, 1980; Lorenzo, 1982; Calo-Lourido, 1985 a, b and c).

Natural environment: the Galician rías are considered to be ecosystems and have significant primary
production, involving the cultivation of bivalve molluscs and mussels in particular. These species are
low down the food chain, which is essential in order to obtain large yields. Differences in production
(growth and meat yield) observed in mussels in the Galician rías are due to physiological adaptive
processes connected with nutrient absorption (Fernandez Reiriz and Labarta). The unique quality of
mussels cultivated in the Galician rías is due to their adaptation to the characteristics of the ecosystem
where they are cultivated, and is directly linked to food availability and quality.

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4.7. Inspection body:

Name:

Consello Regulador DOP Mexillón de Galicia (complies with standard EN 45.011)

Address: Avenida da Mariña, 25 — 1a Planta

E-36600 Vilagarcia de Arousa — Pontevedra (España)

Tel.:

Fax:

(34) 986 50 13 89

(34) 986 50 65 49

e-mail: —

4.8. Labelling: The Boardwill apply its own label, which must identify all packaging which contains
mussels covered by the Protected Designation of Origin. The words Denominación de Origen Protegida
Mexillón de Galicia [Protected Designation of Origin, Mexillón de Galicia] must appear conspicuously on
the label, beneath the logo. The control codes uniquely identifying the mussels in accordance with the
parameters set will also appear.

Products manufactured using Mejillón de Galicia DOP [Mejillón de Galicia PDO] as the primary material
(including where a technological treatment or conservation process has been followed) may be sent to
the consumer in packages which state Elaborado con Denominación de Origen Protegida Mejillón de Galicia
[Made with Protected Designation of Origin Mejillón de Galicia], without the Community logo, provided
that:

— Mejillón de Galicia DOP, certified as such,

is the exclusive component of the product category

concerned, and

— Individuals using the words Elaborado con Denominación de Origen Protegida Mejillón de Galicia have

been authorised.

In this context, the Regulatory Board will authorise use of the words Elaborado con Denominación de
Origen Protegida Mexillón de Galicia in the products manufactured, as it holds the intellectual property
rights granted by registering the designation Mejillón de Galicia DOP.

The Regulatory Board will enter in the relevant registers those authorised to use the words elaborado con
Denominación de Origen Mejillón de Galicia and ensure that the protected designation is used correctly.

4.9. National requirements:

— Law No 2/2005 of 18 February 2005 promoting and protecting food quality in Galicia

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

— Decree No 835/72 of 23 March 1972 Regulation implementing Law No 25/1970

— Royal Decree No 4189/82 of 29 December 1982 on the transfer of functions and services of the
State Administration to the Autonomous Community of Galicia as regards designations of origin,
viticulture and enology and nautical-fisheries professional training

— Royal Decree No 728/1998 of 8 July 1998 laying down rules applicable to specific and generic

designations of origin for non-wine agri-food products

— Royal Decree No 1414/2005 of 25 November 2005 on the procedure governing applications for
entry into the Community register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical
indications and opposition thereto