This communication is published in accordance with Article 6b(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

COMMUNICATING THE APPROVAL OF A 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]

‘Chosco de Tineo’

EU No: PGI-ES-0696-AM03 – 3.1.2024

PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name of product

‘Chosco de Tineo’

2.   Member State to which the geographical area belongs

Spain

3.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

Directorate-General for Rural Development and Agri-Food – Government of Asturias

4.   Description of the approved amendment(s)

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

The amendments described and explained below are classified as ‘standard amendments’ as defined in Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, as they do not change the name of the protected product, alter the link or restrict marketing.

1.   Modification of the ratio of fat to dry matter

This amendment concerns Section B, ‘Description of the product’, of the specification.

In the description of the physico-chemical characteristics, the ratio of fat to dry matter has been increased from less than 35 % (in the previous product specification) to 41 % or less in the amended specification.

The reason for the requested modification of the ratio of fat to dry matter is the changes experienced in recent years with regard to the breeds used in pork production in Spain. These changes influence the intrinsic characteristics of the raw materials used to produce Chosco de Tineo.

This amendment affects the single document.

2.   Change to the wording to make it consistent with previous amendments

This amendment concerns Section D, ‘Proof that the product originated in the area’.

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs requires compliance with the product specification to be verified by the competent authority or by control bodies operating as product certification bodies.

Article 36 of Act of Asturias No 2/2019 of 1 March 2019 on food quality, quality schemes and direct sale of food products allows control activities to be delegated to the control body, which is not the regulatory board.

For this reason, the term ‘regulatory board’ has been replaced by ‘control body’ in the points in the product specification relating to delegated control tasks.

This change had already been requested in the request for standard amendments which was approved by the Decision of 29 September 2022 of the Asturias Ministry of Rural Affairs and Territorial Cohesion.

The term ‘regulatory board’ was, however, inadvertently not replaced by ‘control body’ in the corresponding section (3.4) of the single document. This was not consistent with the statement in the grounds that the term would be replaced in the points relating to delegated control tasks. That is the reason for this new request for a standard amendment to the aforementioned section.

This amendment affects the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Chosco de Tineo’

EU No: PGI-ES-0696-AM03 – 3.1.2024

PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1.   Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

‘Chosco de Tineo’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Spain

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product [listed in Annex XI]

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

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

Meat product made from select cuts of pork loin and tongue, seasoned with salt, paprika and garlic, packed in pig’s intestine, which gives it its characteristic shape, smoked and cured uncooked.

It has a round, irregular shape and weighs between 500 g and 2 000 g. It has a reddish colour, a firm consistency and a characteristic appearance when cut, with the different pieces of meat used being clearly visible.

Its moisture content is a minimum of 40 %, the fat content 41 % or less of the dry matter and the protein content more than 50 % of the dry matter.

The aroma and taste are characteristic of smoked sausage, which may be more or less intense depending on the smoking time, with a juicy texture.

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

No mention is made of relevant requirements applicable to feed.

The following cuts of pigmeat are used: a minimum of 80 % loin and a minimum of 15 % tongue, seasoned with salt, paprika and garlic.

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

Production (selection and cutting-up of the raw material, mixing, filling, smoking and drying) takes place in the defined geographical area.

The chosco is smoked to preserve it using dry wood of local species (oak, birch, beech or chestnut), as this helps it dry out in this area of high relative humidity.

To permit verification that all the production procedures and the quality of the product covered by the PGI meet all the requirements, production undertakings must complete all the documentation and registers necessary and make them available to the control body. That documentation includes:

—	records of deliveries of raw materials, detailing the supplier, the delivery note or invoice number, the quantity, the type of product and the date of delivery. Batches must be identified;

—	production records, detailing all stages in the production process, including the dates of production, smoking and drying, showing the raw-material batch number(s) and the production batch number;

—	dispatch records for the finished product, showing the batch number, dispatch date, the quantity of product, the dispatch note number and the destination;

—	the batch register relates the raw material to the final product, based on the information from the production records and the dispatch records, thus ensuring traceability.

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

The chosco may be sold whole, cooked or uncooked. There are no packaging restrictions for uncooked chosco. Cooked chosco must be packed for reasons of food safety and to maintain quality, since cooking softens the pig intestine used for the casing, making it more vulnerable to external factors that might cause it to split during handling. It must therefore be packed on the producer’s premises before dispatch.

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

All choscos marketed as ‘Chosco de Tineo’ PGI, irrespective of how they are presented, must bear, in addition to the commercial label, a special numbered certification label bearing the words ‘Indicación Geográfica Protegida “Chosco de Tineo” ’ and the logo (standard for all producers). That label must be affixed before the product is dispatched in such a way as to render reuse impossible. The label is shown below in the three possible colour options.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area comprises the municipalities of Allande, Belmonte de Miranda, Cangas del Narcea, Salas, Somiedo, Tineo, Valdés and Villayón in the west of Asturias (Spain), in the north of the Iberian peninsula, bounded by the autonomous communities of Cantabria, Castile and Leon, and Galicia.

This is the production area covered by the PGI.

5.   Link with the geographical area

Specificity of the geographical area

The short distance from the coast to the watershed is generally broken by steep slopes, orographic elements that give rise to two clearly distinct zones: a western, inland zone comprising outcrops and passes with a southerly aspect and a southern central zone lying in the north comprising the coastal mountain ranges, running east to west, with a small coastal strip.

This configuration, with its very uneven terrain, widely contrasting physiography and many valleys and mountain ranges, culminating in the Cantabrian Cordillera, creates a climate that brings plentiful precipitation throughout the year, moderate sunshine and lots of cloud.

In addition, the area’s orography and climate have a huge influence on the way of life of the inhabitants of these villages, who have to adapt to local environmental conditions.

The long winter periods in which the villages are isolated and the possibility of exploiting natural resources in summer on the pastures of the mountain passes meant that livestock farming was one of the main means of subsistence. Pigs played a vital role and were kept in all villages, since the need for self-sufficiency determined by this environment meant that pigs could be fed on organic waste, agricultural by-products (cabbage stalks, turnips, beet, damaged apples) and wild resources (chestnuts, acorns, wild vegetation), all abundant in the area. Pig production was therefore continued. The pigs used were of Celtic breeds, whose characteristics allowed the best use of the resources of the countryside. These have gradually been replaced by selected, more productive animals, and while these have not been able to fulfil the recycling role played by the Celtic breeds, production systems have been adapted and today their meat is used in Chosco de Tineo, although those fattened in the area are still the most prized for producing this product. This special sausage, the product of an area where the raw material was readily available, was also the result of production methods in harmony with local conditions.

The high relative humidity due to the atmospheric conditions, together with isolation from neighbours during winter months, has led to special measures being developed to preserve the product. In this case, the method adopted to preserve and dry the sausage was smoking. Initially, gorse wood, very plentiful in the area, was used, allowing other indigenous leafy woods to be spared, although these gradually came to replace gorse as they started to become less sought after for other purposes. These woods continue to be used today and give an aroma and taste similar to that produced by gorse wood, although with slight differences.

Smoking is still carried out today using traditional methods, although the wood fire is no longer lit on the ground but in braziers or other movable apparatuses known as cocinas de ahumado [smoking stoves]. The choscos are left in the smoking rooms (ahumaderos) for a minimum of 5 days, hanging from bars attached to the roof or from frames known as carros.

Smoking is followed by the actual drying. Mention should be made of the relevance to this drying process of the vaqueiros de alzada [nomadic cowherds] living in certain of the area’s villages. They generally lived by raising cattle and moved up to the high mountains with their families and livestock (including pigs) from April to October. Among the goods they took with them on these journeys were choscos, which they used as typical food for the mountain pastures, where they were specially finished by drying at a higher altitude. When these journeys were not made, drying was carried out in an hórreo, a traditional, very well-ventilated construction. Today it is carried out on premises allowing good ventilation for a minimum of 8 days until the required moisture content is achieved.

Specificity of the product

‘Chosco de Tineo’ is made exclusively from cuts of pork loin and tongue, seasoned, packed by hand in pig’s intestine, smoked and dried, giving it characteristics that differ from those of other types of sausage. When cut, the different pieces of meat used are clearly visible. The meat must not be minced.

Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The characteristics of ‘Chosco de Tineo’ are due to the natural environment of the area, where pig-breeding played a particularly important role, and to a specific production method, the result, on the one hand, of a rainy climate and mountainous terrain that isolates the villages for part of the year and, on the other, of the fact that it is a special sausage made with high-quality cuts, which means that it is reserved mainly for special occasions.

Of the products made when pigs are slaughtered, chosco is one of the most deeply rooted in the defined area. Its production methods have been handed down from one generation to the next, maintaining their artisanal character, and the product enjoys an excellent reputation, attested to by the public regard in which it is held and by documentary references.

There are references in documents of the Monasteries of Obona (Tineo), Corias (Cangas del Narcea) and Belmonte, and by-laws adopted by towns and parishes reflect the importance of pig-breeding in the area. The Catastro de Ensenada [land registry] records that the area had the largest herd in Asturias in the 18th century. In 1897, in their work entitled Asturias, O. Bellmunt and F. Canella point to pig-breeding as one of the main sources of wealth, and the Gran Enciclopedia Asturiana (Gijón, 1980) and J. E. Lamuño stress the size of the famous weekly suckling-pig markets in Tineo.

As for the region’s pig-meat processors, it should be noted that today the most famous are those in Tineo, their sausages, and particularly Chosco de Tineo, being the area’s most important food product. In the second half of the 19th century, in Asturias, O. Bellmunt and F. Canella were already mentioning sausage manufacturers in the municipality of Valdés and at the beginning of the 20th century Tineo was the site of the La Asunción sausage factory.

The origin of the word chosco is uncertain, but José Ántonio Fidalgo suggests that it comes from the Latin luscus, meaning one-eyed or almost blind. The word is from Bable, the Western Asturian language, and is peculiar to the south-west of Asturias (Tineo, Allande, Cangas del Narcea, etc.). In the Middle Ages, the name ‘Tineo’ covered the district from Cabruñana en Salas to Leitariegos in the mountains. In addition, what is now called Cangas del Narcea was known as Cangas de Tineo until the 19th century.

In 1920, in his Remembranzas de antaño y hogaño de la villa de Tineo, the chronicler Claudio Zardaín writes of the chosco that was enjoyed at the local festival of San Roque.

In 1929 Dionisio Pérez (under the pseudonym ‘Post-Thebussem’), in his Guía del buen comer español, alludes to chosco as a sausage and asserts that it is a characteristic dish in Tineo on San Roque’s Day.

In his Guía de Productos de la Tierra (Madrid, 1998), Lucas Pallarés writes that choscu is a noble product that originated with the vaqueiros de alzada.

The Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as part of the ‘Euroterroirs’ project funded by the European Union, also associates the product with the Tineo district, from which it gets its name ‘Chosco de Tineo’.

Analyses are regularly carried out to ensure that the physical and organoleptic properties to which it owes its reputation are being maintained. The criteria used for characterising the product and the analysis results obtained are given in point 3.2 of this document. These must not vary over time.

Every year the regional press reports on the festivals and culinary days organised around ‘Chosco de Tineo’.

Reference to publication of the product specification

https://www.asturias.es/documents/217090/555882/20231031-igp-chosco-tineo-pliego-condiciones.pdf/1636bffa-ef13-145b-8448-c2a622feedf6?t=1698751628928

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(1)   OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.