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)

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’

EU No: PDO-IT-02420-AM01 – 31.10.2023

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1.   Name of product

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’

2.   Member State to which the geographical area belongs

Italy

3.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

MASAF [Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry]

—

4.   Description of the approved amendment(s)

Explanation of why the amendments fall under the definition of a standard amendment as provided for in Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

The amendments are standard in that they do not include a change to the name, do not risk altering the link and do not represent an increase in restrictions on trade in the product.

1.   Amendment concerning Article 2, point 2.1 of the product specification and point 3.2 of the single document ‘Minimum weight of the cheese’

Amendment to both the product specification and the single document:

Current wording:

Weight: The fresco, semistagionato and stagionato types weigh between 600 g and 2,5 kg.

New wording:

Weight: From 300 g to 10 kg for the fresco, semistagionato and stagionato types.

Reasons:

This amendment is due to purely commercial factors linked to specific market demands.

It will enable producers to better meet the requirements of distribution channels and consumers.

The amendment affects the single document.

2.   Amendment concerning Article 5, point 5.1 of the product specification and point 3.3 of the single document on GMOs

Amendment to both the product specification and the single document:

Current wording:

The sheep may not be fed any genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

New wording:

The sheep may not be fed any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in accordance with the relevant provisions in force.

Reason:

It has become necessary to add this wording because the EU legislation on the subject in question is constantly being updated. The amended wording prevents the control body from making its own interpretation and allows for continued compliance with the provisions in force.

The amendment affects the single document.

3.   Amendment concerning Article 5, point 5.2.2 of the product specification on salting

Current wording:

After being removed from the mould, the cheese undergoes dry salting and is placed on a board where it is turned once a day for 3-4 days. Salting may also take place by immersing the cheese in a brine tank, with the duration varying according to the weight of the product:

—	40 minutes, for cheeses up to 600 g;

—	2 hours, for cheeses up to 1,2 kg;

—	12 hours, for cheeses up to 2,5 kg;

—	24 hours, for cheeses up to 5 kg;

—	36 hours, for cheeses up to 10 kg.

New wording:

5.2.2 Salting and, to the extent applicable, maturing

After being removed from the mould, the cheese undergoes dry salting and is placed on a board where it is turned once a day for 3-4 days. Salting may also take place by immersing the cheese in a brine tank, with the duration varying according to the weight of the product:

—	At least 40 minutes, for cheeses between 300 g and 600 g;

—	At least 2 hours, for cheeses up to 1,2 kg;

—	At least 6 hours, for cheeses up to 2,5 kg;

—	At least 12 hours, for cheeses up to 5 kg;

—	At least 24 hours, for cheeses up to 10 kg.

Reason:

Years of checks on production processes have made it possible to more accurately calculate the minimum time that the cheeses need to remain immersed in brine.

The minimum time limits for medium-large cheeses have therefore been adjusted. In addition, the minimum period of immersion in brine has been added for cheese with a weight of 300 g.

The amendment does not affect the single document.

4.   Amendment concerning Article 9 of the product specification on the minimum size of the logo on the label

Current wording:

The minimum size that can be used is 40 mm.

New wording:

The minimum size that can be used is 15 mm.

Reason:

This amendment will make it possible to adapt the size of the logo to the different label sizes.

The amendment does not affect the single document.

5.   Other: Amendment concerning Article 7 of the product specification on the control body

Current wording:

Compliance with the product specification is to be checked by a control body in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. That control body is a public authority: Vibo Valentia Chamber of Commerce, based at Piazza S. Leoluca, 89900 Vibo Valentia, Telephone: 0963 294600, Email: segreteria.generale@vv.camcom.it.

New wording:

Compliance with the product specification is to be checked by a control body in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.That control body is Agroqualità SpA, based at Viale Cesare Pavese 305, Rome.

Reason:

The information on the control body has been updated.

The amendment does not affect the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’

EU No: PDO-IT-02420-AM01 – 31.10.2023

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1.   Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’

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 1.3. Cheese

3.2.   Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ PDO is a cheese made from sheep’s milk that comes in three types depending on the length of the maturing period:

fresco (fresh), preserved for 20-60 days;

semistagionato (semi-mature), matured for 61 days to 6 months;

stagionato (mature), matured for 6-24 months.

When released for consumption, the product must also have the following characteristics:

Physical characteristics

Shape: Round with flat faces.

Diameter of the flat sides: 6-40 cm. Heel height: 3-20 cm.

Weight: From 300 g to 10 kg for the fresco, semistagionato and stagionato types.

Rind: Hard and coarse, with a colour ranging from golden yellow (fresco) to light or medium brown (semistagionato and stagionato), with a reddish tone when the rind has been coated with chilli pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

Paste: Compact, sometimes irregularly dotted with small eyes. When cut, the colour ranges from white in the fresco type to varying intensities of straw yellow in the semistagionato and stagionato types. While fresco cheese has a soft consistency when cut, the semistagionato and stagionato types are progressively firmer.

Chemical characteristics

Fat content in the dry matter: > 45 %;

Protein (Nx6,25): > 20 %.

Organoleptic characteristics

Taste: The cheese is fragrant, with an aroma reminiscent of wild flowers, Mediterranean scrub and hay. It has a rich and pleasantly nutty taste which becomes more and more intense the longer the cheese is matured, with a pronounced sharpness and full-bodied flavour in the stagionato type.

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

The sheep’s diet is made up of plant species native to the Monte Poro area. These are foraged fresh in the summer and consumed as hay in the winter. In years that are marked by particularly adverse weather conditions as a result of drought or severe winters, making it impossible to produce enough forage to feed the flocks, the amount of forage with the above-mentioned characteristics can drop to 70 %, since external hay supplies from outside the PDO production area are allowed but may not exceed 30 % of the total forage used to feed the sheep. During the lactation period only and to ensure the animals are properly fed, up to 15 % of their diet can be supplemented with grains and pulses (whole, flaked or ground), mineral salts and vitamins, including from outside the PDO production area, since these are not produced in sufficient quantities in situ due to the mountainous terrain and to the climate and general growing conditions of the local area.

The sheep may not be fed any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions in force.

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ is made using raw whole sheep’s milk from two milking sessions (the morning of the cheesemaking and the evening before) from free-range sheep that are only penned at night and are reared in the area described in point 4.

The milk is curdled using rennet from the lining of the fourth stomach of exclusively milk-fed lambs and/or kids.

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

The sheep must be reared and ‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ made and matured within the geographical production area defined in point 4.

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

‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ can be sold whole or in portions.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

When the cheese is released for consumption, labels must be attached to one of the two faces of whole cheeses and to the packaging used for portions and slices. As well as the information required by relevant sector legislation, the label must state the following in clear and legible characters: - ‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ (the name cannot be translated) followed by the wording ‘ Denominazione di Origine Protetta ’ or ‘ DOP ’ (‘Protected Designation of Origin’ or ‘PDO’ — these can be translated); - the type of maturation: fresco, semistagionato or stagionato; - the general European PDO logo; - the PDO logo.

No description may be added that is not expressly provided for.

References to names, business names or brand names may be used provided these have no laudatory purport and are not such as to mislead the consumer. Other truthful and verifiable references that are permitted under current legislation may also be used, provided that they do not conflict with the purposes and content of the product specification.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The sheep are reared and ‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ is made and matured solely within the area comprising the following municipalities, all of which are part of the Monte Poro district in the Vibo Valentia province: Joppolo, Spilinga, Zungri, Rombiolo, Nicotera, Limbadi, Zaccanopoli, Drapia, Filandari, Briatico, Ricadi, Maierato, Mileto, San Calogero, Parghelia, Pizzo Calabro, Stefanaconi, Filogaso, Tropea, San Costantino Calabro, San Gregorio d’Ippona, Sant’Onofrio, Vibo Valentia, Zambrone, Cessaniti, Ionadi and Francica.

5.   Link with the geographical area

Lying between the Gulf of Lamezia and the Gioia Tauro plain, the production area is bordered to the north by the Angitola plain, to the south by the Rosarno plain, and to the west by the Catanzaro Apennine ridge.

This region’s diverse local vegetation makes up the bulk of the sheep’s diet (at least 70 %) through grazing. The steep, hard-to-access areas of the Poro plateau used for grazing sheep are widely populated with vigorous, dense shrub species typical of Mediterranean scrub such as broom, myrtle, wild olive, mastic tree and hawthorn (Simone Cesare Lombardi, 2003: Il Poro e la Costa di Capo Vaticano [Mount Poro and the Capo Vaticano Coast]).

It is precisely these Mediterranean scrubland shrubs and plants that give the cheese’s organoleptic profile its distinctive features (bouquet), setting it apart from other sheep’s-milk cheeses. As well as the rich taste, notes of the grasses and flowers of Mount Poro are clearly perceptible in the cheese’s flavour, along with a slightly nutty or grassy aftertaste. This is because the fragrances of the native vegetation are fat-soluble and can be transmitted via fat to the milk, and from there to the cheese. In addition, there are certain unique aspects of the cheese-making process that ensure the presence of this distinctive bouquet, most notably including:

—	the use of raw whole milk, collected and made into cheese without any heat treatment that could alter its organoleptic characteristics; and

—	the low temperatures at which the cheese-making process takes place (32-38 °C), ensuring that dissolved substances are preserved and limiting the volatility of flavours.

Moreover, the fact that parts of the cheese-making process continue to be performed by hand shows the high specialisation and craftsmanship within the production system, which remains inextricably linked to expert cheesemakers who often cannot be found elsewhere. Their expertise directly influences the quality of certain stages in the production cycle (renneting, shaping and maturing, for example), making the cheese ‘typical’ because of its close link with the production area.

The cheese is mentioned in relation to its place of origin in bibliographical sources that are centuries old, from the 1571 work De antiquitate et situ Calabriae, written by humanist and historian Gabriele Barrio from Vibo Valentia, to the 1770 essay Saggio per l’economia campestre per la Calabria Ultra [Study of the countryside economy for Southern Calabria] by Reggio Calabrian economist and philosopher Domenico Grimaldi from Seminara. This link has remained very much alive through time, as illustrated in the writings of Saverio Di Bella in 1985 (‘The sheep’s milk cheeses and ricottas of Poro are white, soft and flavoursome thanks to the local pastures and the widespread presence of oregano that grows wild in the area’) and the various editions, since 1991, of the Atlante dei prodotti tipici. I formaggi [Atlas of typical products - Cheeses], edited by the National Institute of Rural Sociology (INSOR) (‘The pastures of Mount Poro [...] are rich in grasses, many of them fragrant. The cheeses produced in this area are sold to coastal tourists for their good quality and the reputation they have acquired.’) The book Formaggi d’Italia [Italian Cheese: A Guide to Their Discovery and Appreciation] published by Slow Food in 1999 (‘The grass of the pastures in the Monte Poro area is particularly rich in flavour- and aroma-enhancing elements and sheep’s milk cheeses produced there have always enjoyed an excellent reputation’) and Paolo Massobrio’s Il Golosario [The Encyclopaedia of Taste], published in 2006 (‘The exclusive and highly aromatic taste of this cheese is the result of the grasses on which the local sheep and goat breeds are fed’). Finally, it should be noted that in 2012 ‘Pecorino del Monte Poro’ won the Gambero Rosso ‘outstanding’ award at the Salone del Gusto in Turin, placing it among Italy’s 17 best cheeses.

Reference to publication of the product specification

https://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/files/1/0/9/D.15d67b2a291738f6ce24/MASAF_2023_0350880_DMmodordpecorinodelMontePoro_signed.pdf

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(1)   OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.