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: 2007-05-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Spain, designation of origin, labelling, location of production, olive oil, product designation, product quality

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OTHER ACTS

COMMISSION

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

(2007/C 105/07)

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 from the date
of this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘ACEITE DEL BAIX EBRE — MONTSIÀ’ OR ‘OLI DEL BAIX EBRE — MONTSIÀ’

EC No: ES/PDO/005/0274/23.01.2003

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary sets out the main elements of the product specification for information purposes.

1.

Responsible department in the Member State:

Name:

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

Address:

Paseo Infanta Isabel, 1
E-28071 Madrid

Telephone:

(34) 91 347 53 94

Fax:

(34) 91 347 54 10

e-mail:

sgcaproagro@mapya.es

2.

group:

Name:

Josep Antoni Curto Fumado, D.N.I. no 40909857-X, au nom et pour le compte de l'as-
sociació de cooperatives productores d'oli d'oliva del Baix Ebre i Montsià (ACOBEM), C.
I.F. no G43577055, ayant son siège à carretera Raval de Crist s/n Tortosa et al.

Address:

Carretera Raval de Crist s/n
E-43500 Tortosa

Telephone:

(34) 977 58 12 12

Fax:

e-mail:

(34) 977 58 12 12

info@acobem.com

Composition: Producers/processors ( X ) Other categories ( )

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

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3.

Type of product:

Class 1.5 — Oils and fats.

4.

specification:

(summary of the requirements in accordance with article 4 (2) of regulation (EC) no 510/2006)

4.1. Name:

‘Aceite del Baix Ebre — Montsià’ or ‘Oli del Baix Ebre — Montsià’.

4.2. Descr iption: Extra virgin olive oil obtained from olives of the species Olea Europea L., from three
native varieties: Morruda or Morrut, Sevillenca and Farga, using mechanical procedures or other
physical means that do not modify the oil, but preserve the flavour, fragrance and features of the fruit.

The features of the oil are as follows:

Organoleptic properties:

Appearance

Colour

Flavour

Clear, transparent, with no cloudiness or turbidity

Varies, according to the time of harvesting and the
geographical situation within the production area, from
greenish yellow to golden yellow.

Strong oils (moderately bitter, spicy and astringent) and
very aromatic (rich in secondary, green flavourings),
fruity flavour at the beginning of the crop year and
becoming slightly sweet in the course of the year.

Minimum number of points awarded by tasting panel

6,5

Chemical and physical properties:

Maximum acidity (% of oleic acid)

Maximum peroxide index (meq. O2/kg)

K270 maximum

K232 maximum

Maximum humidity and volatile compounds (%)

Maximum impurities (%)

0,80

18

0,20

2,00

0,20

0,10

4.3. Geographical area: The production area comprises the districts of Baix Ebre and Montsià, in the
province of Tarragona, in the south of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, bordering on the
districts of Baix Maestrat (province of Castellón) and Matarraña (province of Teruel).

The municipalities that cover this geographical zone are the following:

Baix Ebre

Montsià

Aldea

Aldover

Alfara de Carles

Ametlla de Mar

Ampolla

Benifallet

Camarles

Deltebre

Paüls

Perelló

Roquetes

Tivenys

Tortosa

Xerta

Alcanar

Amposta

Freginals

La Galera

Godall

Mas de Barberans

Masdenverge

Sant Carles de la Ràpita

Sant Jaume d'Enveja

Santa Bàrbara

La Sénia

Ulldecona

The area of preparation and packing is the same as the area of production.

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4.4. Proof of or igin:: The olives arriving at extraction plants are from olive groves in the production
area, and are selected, prepared and packaged in industrial plants in the same area, listed in the register
of the Regulatory Council. The oils obtained which pass all the tests throughout the production and
preparation process and the physical, chemical and sensory analyses are put on the market under the
designation of origin and with the label, back label or, where applicable, numbered quality seal
awarded by the Regulatory Council.

4.5. Method of production:

Growing conditions:

— Planting distances: as a rule, trees are planted to a density of 70 to 90 per hectare.

— Soil preparation and pruning: soil preparation is that typical of the area of production. Pruning
removes older wood, giving the tree a rounded shape, which encourages fruit production and facili-
tates harvesting.

— Pest and disease control: in addition to the compulsory requirements governing the application of
products and specific safety periods, treatment and control of olive pests and diseases, especially
the olive fly Bracocera oleac and the Prays oleae moth, involves fulfilling specific control standards in
accordance with the plant defence authority of Baix Ebre and Montsià.

— Irrigation: about 96 % of the crop is on dry soil, with 4 % on irrigated land.

— Harvesting: Having reached the optimum level of ripeness, the olives are collected directly from the
tree, discarding those that have fallen on the ground. The harvesting is traditionally carried out
using a method known as ‘milking’ that involves hand-picking the olives direct from the tree when
the olives are at their best in terms of ripeness. In the last few years, a method involving the use of
vibrating machines has been progressively introduced as it is the most suitable means of obtaining
a quality product because of minimal damage caused to the tree and fruits. Harvesting begins in
mid-November and lasts until
the end of February. The use of abscission products is not
authorised.

— Transport and storage of olives at the oil mill: olives are transported to the oil mill in plastic crates
or loose in the farm trailer, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the quality manual to
ensure that the fruit does not get damaged.

— Once the olives have been transported to the oil mills, they are washed and cleaned. Then they are

weighed and a representative sample is taken to assess oil yield or fat yield and acidity.

— Time elapsing between harvesting and crushing of the olives: no more than 48 hours.

Method of production and packaging

Afterwards, the mechanical extraction processes are carried out,
refining of the paste, separation and storage.

involving washing and pressing,

The manufacturing companies listed in this Protected Designation of Origin currently operate using
continuous systems involving two phases in all the oil mills.

The olive oil is then packaged in containers of up to five litres and labelled in accordance with point
4.8. The use of talc is authorised where required due to the special condition of the olives.

The packaging of the oil with Protected Designation of Origin must be carried out in packing plants
situated in the geographical area defined in point 4.3 of the summary file. The aim is to guarantee the
origin and inherent quality of this oil, avoiding bulk transport outside the production area.

Guarantee of origin: the oil protected under the PDO may be mixed with other non-protected oil of
similar characteristics and as, analytically, this is very difficult or impossible to detect, tracing systems
at the origin are the only means of effectively keeping this fraud under control. In this way, the authen-
ticity of the product is guaranteed.

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Quality Assurance: extra virgin olive oils are highly sensitive to external agents, which can cause all
kinds of transformations and changes such as oxidation. Bulk transport means subjecting the oil to
inadequate environmental conditions that can affect its sensory characteristics and would therefore
alter its inherent features, which determine the Protected Designation of Origin.

In view of the foregoing, it is essential that packaging of this type of oil is carried out in the same
geographical area.

4.6. Link:

Historical: the introduction of olive growing in Catalonia and in particular in the Baix Ebre and
Montsià regions can be attributed to the Arabs. Even today, the olive oil mills are still known as ‘alma-
zaras’, which is a clear reference to this Arab origin.

In the fourteenth century, olives and vines were the basic agricultural products in the districts of Baix
Ebre and Montsià. In his ‘Historia de Tortosa y su comarca’ (‘A history of Tortosa and its district’,
1958) the prolific historian Enric Bayerri mentions an official inventory of assets returned in 1353 by
the villagers of the area ‘where most declared an olive grove, a vineyard, or both’. Vines, carob and
especially olives groves, often in combination, provided the main activity in the area and covered
virtually all of the land.

According to Enric Bayerri (op. cit.), at the beginning of 1931, there were 1 135 oil mills in Tortosa
and the villages of the district, crushing 83 626 042 kg of olives, with an average of 126 323 kg per
mill. This is equivalent to 16.6 tonnes of oil altogether, with an average of 25 000 kg per mill.

In ‘El aceite de oliva de España’ (The olive oil of Spain, 1961) and ‘Problema del aceite virgen de oliva’
(The problem of virgin olive oil, 1967), Daniel Mangrané praises the quality of oil from the district of
Baix Ebre, which contributed to the vast oil trade of Tortosa, which was the first area to produce and
market fine olive oils, and where there were nineteen established traders dealing exclusively in oil,
which was sold both to the Spanish and to the French. On the basis of this quality, the master oil-
makers formed a school, advising other towns in the art of oil-making since the best oil was from this
area, they taught the method of production in Toledo, lower Aragon and the province of Lerida.

The Estación Olivarera (olive centre) and the technical centre for olive-growing and oil producing in
Tortosa date from this period. The Director of these centres, Isidro Aguiló, draws attention in the fore-
word to a published work on olive oil production to the world-wide reputation of oils from Baix Ebre,
the district where progress was first made on oil-production techniques at low temperatures, and to
the long tradition of oil production which forms a background for widespread olive-growing, especially
around Tortosa, Roquetes and adjoining areas. These centres were world-famous in the olive sector at
the time, thanks to the many reports and studies they produced, and to participation in congresses
(e.g. the international olive-growing congress in Rome).

Natural: the features of the natural environment of the area together with the local varieties of the
geographic area defined in the PDO, Morruda or Morrut, Sevillenca and Farga, affect the oil in the
following way: the soil characteristics, in particular the lack of nutrients, along with the climate of the
area, especially the wind, which is a distinguishing climatic factor (the dry and persistent ‘mistral’ or
‘dalt’ winds that are strong in autumn and winter, channelled by the Ebro depression and accelerated
by the relief of the area), puts strain on the growth of the olive trees, causing an increased percentage
of polyphenols in the fruit, which results in a typical oil that is rich in secondary flavourings of a
green rate with a moderately astringent, bitter and spicy taste.

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4.7.

Inspection body:

Name:

Address:

Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Protegida ‘Aceite del Baix Ebre-Montsià’
u ‘Oli del Baix Ebre-Montsià’

Carretera Raval de Crist s/n
E-43500 Tortosa

Telephone:

(34) 977 58 12 12

Fax:

(34) 977 58 12 12

e-mail:

cr@acobem.com

The Regulatory Council for ‘Aceite del Baix Ebre — Montsià’ or ‘Oli del Baix Ebre — Montsià’ PDO
meets the requirements of standard EN-45011 in accordance with the current Community PDO and
PGI Regulation.

4.8. Labelling: The label will show clearly and compulsorily, the PDO name ‘Aceite del Baix Ebre —
Montsià’ or ‘Oli del Baix Ebre — Montsià’ along with their own logo and the Community logo, plus
any other information required under the current legislation.