Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs 2023/C 138/08
Date: 2023-04-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Aragon, Spain, consumer information, designation of origin, fresh meat, labelling, pigmeat, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_2023138EN.01001701.xml










21.4.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 138/17






Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
(2023/C 138/08)
This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) within three months from the date of this publication.
SINGLE DOCUMENT

’Cerdo de Teruel'


EU No: PGI-ES-2633 — 16.9.2020


PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

’Cerdo de Teruel'
2.   Member State or Third Country

Spain
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.1. Fresh meat (and offal)
3.2.   Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

The protected geographical indication 'Cerdo de Teruel' is used to denote pork – i.e. porcine meat – that meets the following requirements:






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pinkish-red meat marbled with intramuscular fat;










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mild-tasting, succulent and tender in the mouth.




The pork may be presented in primal or retail cuts or in fillets.
’Cerdo de Teruel' pork is obtained once the leg and shoulder have been removed from the pig carcass (the leg can become 'Jamón de Teruel' and the shoulder 'Paleta de Teruel' – the carcass requirements for those PDO products are the same as for this PGI).
It must come from pigs with the following genetic makeup: Landrace (‘standard’ type) or Large White – or crosses of the two – as the dam line and Duroc as the sire line.
The carcasses must meet the following requirements after slaughter:






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warm weight of at least 86 kg;










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back-fat thickness, measured in the lumbar area in line with the tip of the leg, of between 16 mm and 45 mm.




3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The pigs’ diet is essentially cereal-based and there are established percentages of the raw materials that make up their feed: at least 50 % must be cereals, which, as far as possible, must come from the defined geographical area.
If the pigs providing the PGI meat are fed compound feed, this must have been produced by manufacturers located within the geographical area or in the neighbouring provinces: Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Valencia, Castellón and Tarragona.
This geographical restriction on the location of feed manufacturers is necessary because the same pig carcasses used for this PGI are also used to make 'Jamón de Teruel' / 'Paleta de Teruel' PDO hams. The requirements at this stage of production are the same for both quality labels because the parts of the carcass not covered by the PGI – the legs and shoulders – can be used for 'Jamón de Teruel' (legs) and 'Paleta de Teruel' (shoulders). The primary production requirements laid down in the product specification for 'Jamón de Teruel' / 'Paleta de Teruel' PDO have therefore been replicated in the product specification for 'Cerdo de Teruel' PGI.
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

The following steps in production take place within the defined geographical area:






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Pig production: rearing and fattening;










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Slaughter;










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Cutting of the carcass to remove the legs and shoulders




3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

The product may be cut, filleted, packaged and labelled at meat processing plants registered with the management body and located within the geographical area, or at establishments outside the geographical area under cooperation agreements signed with certified operators with prior approval from the management body.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

’Cerdo de Teruel' PGI pork may be sold in primal or retail cuts or in fillets.
Each carcass, minus the legs and shoulders, supplied by a registered operator must be identified by a PGI-specific label on each side, containing the PGI’s specific logo and the words Indicación Geográfica Protegida Cerdo de Teruel ['Cerdo de Teruel' Protected Geographical Indication] or IGP Cerdo de Teruel ['Cerdo de Teruel' PGI].
Cuts and fillets can only be dispatched by authorised operators (i.e. those authorised to use the PGI conformity markings) and only once they have been labelled with a numbered certification label containing at least the PGI’s specific logo and the words Indicación Geográfica Protegida [Protected Geographical Indication] and 'Cerdo de Teruel'. This label must be affixed directly onto primal cuts and attached to the packaging of retail cuts and fillets.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area in which the pigs are produced (growing and finishing) and slaughtered and the legs and shoulders removed from the carcasses is the Province of Teruel.
5.   Link with the geographical area

The registration of this protected geographical indication is based on the reputation that the product has earned.
Documented references to 'Cerdo de Teruel' go back a long way because the province of Teruel has a strong historical association with pig-rearing and pork products as a source of income for the local people.
Various documents highlight the importance of the pig and pig-farming in the province. Rules on pig-rearing and payments were established in the 1177 Royal Charter of Teruel, awarded by Alfonso II (Castañé, J., 1991: El Fuero de Teruel. Edición Crítica con introducción y traducción ['The Charter of Teruel. Critical edition with introduction and translation']).
In Historia de la Economía Política de Aragón ['History of the Political Economy of Aragon'] (1978), the naturalist, jurist and historian Jordán de Asso wrote: ‘the pigs reared in the district of Albarracín are highly appreciated for their delicacy’.
This traditional local association with livestock rearing led to the registration of 'Jamón de Teruel' as a protected designation of origin in 1984. This helped pig production in Teruel, using knowledge from the past, to become consolidated over time. It was an attempt to reward the efforts of conscientious farmers to preserve the production systems that would eventually give the products their name, starting with the cured meat products ('Jamón de Teruel' and 'Paleta de Teruel'), and now moving on to the rest of the fresh meat found on a carcass.
This consolidation of the pig-rearing activity and the fact that this activity is monitored by certification body has had a direct impact on the pig carcass. The fact that it comes from pigs subject to genetic selection, the cereal-based diet they are fed and the fattening time (to give a carcass weight of at least 86 kg) have allowed the fresh meat to earn itself a reputation as a product with added value, giving credit in particular to the human factors: breed, diet and rearing.
The first of these factors is genetics: the cross-breeding process guarantees that a 'Cerdo de Teruel' pig will always be 50 % Duroc (sire side) and 50 % Large White, Landrace or a cross of the two (dam side), and these breeds, when cross-bred as indicated, produce fresh meat with a high degree of intramuscular fat marbling (Garitano, I. et al., 2013).
The second is the decision to feed the pigs a cereal-based diet (at least 50 % cereals) throughout the entire growing period – and not just at the times of year when certain raw materials are available – favouring more gradual growth. For example, feeding pigs a diet consisting solely of granulated barley at the finishing stage may increase the fatty acid content of intramuscular fat studies have also suggested (Daza, A. et al., 2010b) and shown (Daza, A. et al., 2012 and Garitano, I. et al., 2012) that this diet also affects certain parameters related to meat quality, such as colour and water-holding capacity.
The third reason is the way the pigs are reared to live weights of 110-140 kg at slaughter, larger than the commercial standard of 85-100 kg, to ensure that the warm carcasses meet the requirements established for this PGI and that the meat is marbled with fat. Added to this is the fact that abattoirs and farms are located close to one another, reducing transport times and therefore also the stress to which the pigs are subjected before slaughter, which favours the pink-to-red tone of 'Cerdo de Teruel' meat that so clearly distinguishes it from other leaner, paler pork.
The continued application of these three acquired wisdoms has therefore made it possible to produce the type of meat for which protection is sought, as described in point 3.2, a meat characterised by its colouring and fat marbling.
The recognition of 'Cerdo de Teruel' has the public authorities’ support. Between 2004 and 2010, Teruel’s Provincial Council funded research into improving and optimising the production systems for pigs whose meat is covered by this PGI under a partnership agreement which was also signed by the Teruel Agri-Food Industry Association and the Regulatory Board for 'Jamón de Teruel' / 'Paleta de Teruel' PDO.
Other projects examine the effects of different factors, such as castration, feeding and genetics, on carcass characteristics. These research projects conclude that both barrows and gilts are suitable for fresh meat (Latorre et al, 2009a), that a cereal-based diet influences the fat on a carcass (Daza, A. et al., 2010b) and that using Duroc as the sire line has a positive impact on production outcomes, bringing a slight increase in carcass fat coverage (Garitano, I. et al., 2013).
The history of 'Cerdo de Teruel' and its importance on the market has also inspired research into the pork’s distinctive characteristics: the University of Zaragoza’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is investigating the physical and chemical characteristics of certain cuts of pork (the loin and tenderloin and the cuts known in Spain as secreto [from behind the shoulder joint] and presa [buried within the shoulder]) from pigs with the characteristics required for this PGI (Physicochemical characteristics of muscles from pigs intended for dry-cured ham from Teruel (Spain), Calvo et al, 2011). Dr Virginia Resconi’s research highlights the nutritional value of 'Cerdo de Teruel' pork reared and fed a certain way (as reported on the Portal Veterinario website in 2011 under the headline The nutritional value of Teruel pork).
Furthermore, in 2015 the Livestock Production Technology Unit (part of the Aragon Agri-Food Research and Technology Centre or CITA as per its Spanish acronym) published the results of a research project entitled Effect of diet, packaging and exposure time on visual appraisal and intention to purchase 'Cerdo de Teruel' PGI pork (Panea, B. et al, 2015). Notable among the conclusions of this research is the finding that the control group – 'Cerdo de Teruel' pork from pigs fed their usual diet – scored higher than the other groups, in which the animals were given different types of feed.
In 2016 CITA researchers conducted a project, within the framework of the Teruel Investment Fund, entitled Health management, production and marketing alternatives for 'Cerdo de Teruel' pork: a proposal for sustainability (Panea, B. et al., 2016).
Since then, further research has been carried out with CITA involvement and presented to programmes co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund: Healthy sausages made from pork from Teruel: Reduced content of saturated fat and salt (Panea, B. et al., 2019).
’Cerdo de Teruel' also features in a quite different sort of publication, with a large audience and widespread recognition, namely literature. One particular example is a chapter of the novel Animales urbanos [Urban Animals] (Leiz, K. 2018) entitled Del cerdo de Teruel y del amor [Of 'Cerdo de Teruel' and of love].
Alongside tradition and the scientific and information publications backing it up, the reputation of 'Cerdo de Teruel' is further demonstrated by its recognition on the market. 'Cerdo de Teruel' is the name used by producers and sellers to refer to this highly sought-after meat, and it is in common use on the market and at hypermarkets and butchers’ shops all over Spain.
Dishes made with 'Cerdo de Teruel' are also a permanent fixture on restaurant menus throughout the country.
Furthermore, recipes using 'Cerdo de Teruel' can be found on respected digital platforms. One example is a recipe for ’Cerdo de Teruel' pork tenderloin with prunes and pine nuts from El Gran Libro de la Cocina Aragonesa [The Big Aragonese Cookbook] (Aneto Publicaciones, SL, 2011), posted in the food and drink section of RedAragón, an internet portal for the region of Aragon. Chefs have also shared recipes such as ’Cerdo de Teruel' pork secreto with aubergine and white chocolate sauce (on an Aragon food promotion website called Comparte el Secreto. Aragón, alimentos nobles [Share the Secret: Aragón, noble dishes]) and Altamiras-inspired 'Cerdo de Teruel' pork cheeks ['Altamiras-inspired' being a reference to the 18th-century friar and chef Juan Altamiras] (food and drink section of the Heraldo newspaper).
This singling-out of 'Cerdo de Teruel' is also echoed in the media:






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The good-quality diet fed to the pigs used to make the 'Jamón de Teruel' Designation of Origin results not only in exquisite hams but also in top-quality fresh meat, dark pink in colour, with a delicate flavour and a tender and particularly succulent consistency (2011, Indisa; 2014, A la carta para dos, [Table for two à la carte]);










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Quality, production and marketing of Teruel pork (2016, 'Aragón hoy' ['Aragon today']).




’Cerdo de Teruel'‘s noble reputation has led to it being spotlighted in many events over the years.
On a number of occasions 'Cerdo de Teruel' has played a major role in the Teruel Gusto Mudéjar [Mudejar flavours] cookery contest, which has been taking place since 2006 and features as its main activity a national competition focusing on cooking with a “Mudejar flavour”. The recipe that professional chefs and rising stars of gastronomy were challenged with reinterpreting at the sixth edition of this culinary event was 'Cerdo de Teruel'-stuffed Cella potatoes with Périgord black truffle (Tuber melanosporum).
2012 saw the first edition the Jornada Gastronómica de Cerdo de Teruel, a festival of 'Cerdo de Teruel' involving more than 40 establishments in Teruel province. The event’s motto was A new look at pork. Other ways of enjoying the journey and more….
In 2020, 'Cerdo de Teruel' was involved in the international 'Madrid Fusión' fair as a quality scheme: ’Cerdo de Teruel' pork at the Madrid Fusión food and drink fair (La Comarca newspaper).
All of this – and in particular the desire to safeguard a product with strong local associations – led the producers to set up the 'Cerdo de Teruel' Producers’ Association with the aim of safeguarding the product’s reputation, ensure that consumers are properly informed and manage 'Cerdo de Teruel' pork production.
The importance of 'Cerdo de Teruel' production to the local area, the authorities’ commitment to safeguarding farming traditions and practices, the work done on this product by researchers, the producers’ dedication to obtaining high-quality products and the product’s commercial reputation mean that 'Cerdo de Teruel' can be marketed as added-value meat, defending producers’ interests by securing recognition for their products.
Such a show of recognition for the name to be protected – 'Cerdo de Teruel' – will allow its market reputation to be safeguarded, preserving the production criteria that lend the pork its specific characteristics, enabling consumers to clearly identify the product, and guaranteeing control.

Reference to publication of the specification

https://www.aragon.es/-/indicacion-geografica-protegida-cerdo-teruel
(under the heading Propuesta del Documento Único y del Pliego de condiciones [Draft single document and product specification] and then Fecha: Junio de 2022 [date: December 2022]).


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.