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 abovementioned 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 producers 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:

2.   Group:

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.6.: processed peppers

4.   Specification:

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1.   Name: ‘Pimiento Asado del Bierzo’

4.2.   Description: 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 elongated 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.   Geographical area: 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, Ponferrada, Priaranza, Sobrado, Villadecanes-Toral de los Vados and Villafranca del Bierzo.

4.4.   Proof of origin: In order to guarantee that the product originates in the area:

4.5.   Method of production: 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.

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.   Link:

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.

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 fragments or seeds remaining attached to the peppers.

4.7.   Inspection body:

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.   Labelling: 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.   National requirements:

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