Publication of an approved standard amendment to a product specification of a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication in the agricultural products and foodstuffs sector, as referred to in Article 6b(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 2023/C 208/09
Date: 2023-06-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Calabria, Italy, aromatic plant, consumer information, designation of origin, dried product, fresh product, labelling, product designation, quality control of agricultural products




C_2023208EN.01006401.xml










15.6.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 208/64






Publication of an approved standard amendment to a product specification of a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication in the agricultural products and foodstuffs sector, as referred to in Article 6b(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014
(2023/C 208/09)
This communication is published in accordance with Article 6b(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

Communicating the approval of a Union [sic] standard amendment to the product specification of a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication originating in a Member State


(Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012)


‘Liquirizia di Calabria’


EU No: PDO-IT-0644-AM03 - 22.3.2023


PDO (X) PGI ( )

1.   Name of product

‘Liquirizia di Calabria’
2.   Member State to which the geographical area belongs

Italy
3.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry
—
4.   Description of the approved amendment(s)

1.   Deletion of the words ‘and the date of packaging of the products contained in the individual packages’.
Description
In Article 8 of the product specification and point 3.6 of the single document, the words ‘and the date of packaging of the products contained in the individual packages’ have been deleted.
Reason: The amendment has proved necessary as it has been found that consumers often confuse the date of packaging printed on the label with the product’s ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ date, leading to doubt, uncertainty, bewilderment and mistrust towards the producer and the product itself.
Moreover, operators have to bear additional printing costs in order to indicate this date on often very small packaging, in connection with the size of the printing area, also to ensure the minimum size required by the relevant legislation.
Removing this information from the label does not conflict with the rules on product traceability as, in addition to the product’s ‘best before’ date, the production batch is always indicated. This permits full traceability of the product, including as regards the date of packaging.
Amendment to Article 8 of the product specification and point 3.6 of the single document.
This amendment affects the single document.
2.   Correction of the description of the logo
Description
Description: In Article 8 of the specification, the sentence ‘Outside the rhombus, the words “Liquirizia di Calabria” are written from right to left on the two sides at the top and the words “D.O.P. Denominazione di Origine Protetta” [Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)] are written from right to left on the two sides at the bottom’ has been amended to ‘Outside the rhombus, the words “Liquirizia di Calabria” are written from left to right on the two sides at the top and the words “D.O.P. Denominazione di Origine Protetta” [Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)] are written from left to right on the two sides at the bottom’.
Reason: The requested amendment corrects the description of the logo, as the text included in the logo is not printed from right to left but from left to right.
The amendment concerns Article 8 of the product specification.
The amendment does not affect the single document.
SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Liquirizia di Calabria’


EU No: PDO-IT-0644-AM03 - 22.3.2023


PDO (X) PGI ( )

1.   Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]


‘Liquirizia di Calabria’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Italy
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product [as in Annex XI]

Class 1.8. Other products of Annex I to the Treaty (spices etc.)
3.2.   Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

The ‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ protected designation of origin is reserved exclusively for fresh or dried liquorice and its extract. This liquorice must come from cultivated or wild Glycyrrhiza glabra plants (family: Leguminosae), specifically the ‘typica’ variety known in Calabria as ‘Cordara’.
When released for consumption ‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ PDO must have the following characteristics:
Fresh root:
Colour: straw yellow;
Flavour: sweet, aromatic, intense and long-lasting;
Moisture: ≤ 52 %;
Glycyrrhizin ≤ 1,40 %.
Dried root:
Colour: straw yellow to ochre yellow;
Flavour: sweet, fruity and slightly astringent;
Moisture: ≤ 12 %;
Glycyrrhizin: ≤ 5 % of dry matter.
Root extract:
Colour: dark terracotta brown to black;
Flavour: bittersweet, aromatic, intense and long-lasting;
Moisture: between 9 % and 15 %;
Glycyrrhizin: ≤ 6 % of dry matter.
3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

—
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

All production stages, from growing to harvesting, as well as drying and processing, must take place in the demarcated geographical area.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ PDO is marketed in packaging made of cardboard, glass, metal, ceramic, polypropylene, high-density polyethylene and all materials permitted under current legislation on the packaging of foodstuffs. Packages may weigh between 5 g and 25 kg. All packages must be sealed in such a way that opening the package breaks the seal.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

The label must feature the logo of the designation and the serial number assigned by the inspection body. The logo of ‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ PDO is a stylised rhombus with equal sides and 90 ° angles. The minimum printing size of the whole logo is 0,5 cm high and wide. The logo may be printed in any colour.





4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area for ‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ includes all the municipalities listed in the product specification, where Glycyrrhiza glabra plants of the ‘typica’ variety, known in Calabria as ‘Cordara’, grow wild or are cultivated, up to an altitude of 650 m above sea level. The area is bounded to the north and separated from the Basilicata region by the Pollino Massif, which slopes down gently to Rocca Imperiale in the northeast. The area covers the lands in the Crati Valley on the right and left banks of the river, which runs south to north and flows into the Ionian Sea to the northeast after crossing the Sibari Plain. On the Tyrrhenian side, the areas included are those which, moving from north to south, are situated between the municipalities of Falconara Albanese and Nicotera. On the Ionian side, the areas included, starting from the north, comprise the broad Sibari Plain in Crotone province and reach as far as Calabria’s furthest tip.
5.   Link with the geographical area

Calabria is a region with totally unique characteristics as compared to the rest of Italy, owing to its configuration and topography. The furthest extension of the Italian peninsula, Calabria is itself a long, narrow peninsula with 800 km of coastline, in some ways comparable with Puglia but in others completely different from it. Calabria is split lengthways by high Apennine mountain chains, a feature which is unique among Italian regions. Calabria’s configuration and topography are responsible for its biological, soil and climate conditions, which make it unique and distinctive within Italy in terms of average temperatures, temperature range, humidity, rainfall, precipitation, wind, sunshine, solar radiation and therefore soil temperature. These factors have been amply demonstrated in numerous scientific studies. Over the centuries, this distinctive habitat has put strong pressure on the species to adapt, influencing its composition and nutritional and aromatic qualities to create a specific chemotype, Liquirizia di Calabria. This particular type of liquorice is identified with the Calabria region and was already well known in the 17th century, as attested to by many documents, including the famous Trattato di terapeutica e farmacologia [Treaty on Therapy and Pharmacology], Vol. I (1903). This text states that ‘The species from which it originates is Glycyrrhiza glabra (Leguminosae, Papillonaceae), native to south-west Europe. The medicinal root is sometimes known as Calabrian liquorice [Liquirizia di Calabria] to distinguish it from Russian liquorice, which is lighter in colour and produced from Glycyrrhiza glandulifera or echinata, found in south-east Europe’. In addition, the fourteenth edition of the famous Encyclopaedia Britannica (1928) states that ‘The preparation of the juice is a widely extended industry along the Mediterranean coast, but the quality best appreciated in Great Britain is made in Calabria’. The Encyclopaedia Britannica’s assessment is supported by a US Department of State report entitled ‘The Licorice Plant’ (1985). The designation ‘Liquirizia di Calabria’ refers to a complex ‘product’ which is the result of interaction with human activities that have been handed down over the centuries and attained the status of a Calabrian tradition. This much is evident from Saint-Non’s painting of the late 18th century; and from Vincenzo Padula’s Stato delle persone in Calabria – I concari (1864); the SVIMEZ (Association for the Development of Industry in Southern Italy) document Piante officinali in Calabria: presupposti e prospettive (1951); Pece e liquirizia nei casali cosentini del Settecento: forma d’industrie e forze di lavoro (Augusto Placanica, 1980); I ‘Conci’ e la produzione del succo di liquerizia in Calabria (Gennaro Matacena, 1986); La dolce industria. Conci e liquirizia in provincia di Cosenza dal XVIII al XX secolo (Vittorio Marzi et al., 1991); and many other texts describing the cultivation, production and use of the liquorice plant published from the 18th century to the present day.
In the second half of the 18th century, liquorice growing in Calabria extended all along the Ionian coast, in particular along the northern border with Basilicata and on the vast Sibari Plain, where it grew abundantly, as far as Crotone and Reggio Calabria. However, it was also abundant in the Crati Valley, which runs from Cosenza to the Sibari Plain, as well as along wide stretches of the Tyrrhenian coast. The liquorice plant is widely grown in the same areas today, with a significant increase in production thanks to the endeavours of a farmer from Corigliano who, several decades ago, started spreading the precious root to promote it as a special crop in the spirit of alternative farming of officinal plants, for which there is considerable unmet demand in Italy.

Reference to publication of the product specification

https://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/18909


(1)  OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.