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

‘Szőregi rózsatő’

EU No: PGI-HU-0389-AM01 - 19 November 2024

PDO () PGI (X)

1.   Name of the product

‘Szőregi rózsatő’

2.   Member State to which the geographical area belongs

Hungary

3.   Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

Ministry of Agriculture

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4.   Description of the approved amendment(s)

Explanation that the amendment(s) fall under the definition of a standard amendment

This amendment is a standard amendment; is not considered to be a Union amendment because the name is not being changed, the link to the geographical area is not invalidated, and the amendment does not entail further restrictions on the marketing of the product.

1.   Point 2 of the product specification: Description of product; Rootstock for cultivation

The reference to Szőregi Virág-Dísznövény Áfész [the Szőreg flower and ornamental plant general consumption and sales cooperative], mentioned as the source of supply of the rootstock but which has ceased to exist in the meantime, has been deleted and mention of the current practice has been added to the paragraph, i.e. that the rootstock is obtained from rootstock material the producers verify themselves, or from domestic or foreign tree nurseries.

One rootstock cultivar (‘Superbe’) has been deleted from the list because the producers have not found it good to work with. The ‘Superbe’ cultivar is weaker, thinner and soil-sensitive, so it has been removed from the list.

This amendment affects the single document.

2.   Point 2 of the product specification: Description of product; Product characteristics; External characteristics

The reference to the classification of rose cultivars not complying with requirements as waste and to their destruction has been deleted, because these rose cultivars can be placed on the market readily without a PGI or PDO designation. Mention of this has been inserted into the description.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

3.   Point 3 of the product specification: Definition of the geographical area

The designation of Csongrád County as the administrative unit has been changed in national legislation to Csongrád-Csanád County, hence the need for this amendment.

This amendment affects the single document.

4.   Point 4 of the product specification: Proof of origin from the geographical area

The number of Hungarian standards on the cultivation and marketing of roses has changed, which entails an amendment to the first paragraph. In the second paragraph, the list of data which no longer need to be recorded (the number of the contract concluded with the buyer, the plant code) has been deleted; the producer number, however, has been replaced by a National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) registration number identifying the producer (likewise in the fourth paragraph). The list of items to be recorded has been supplemented with the cultivar denomination of the improved rose. The third paragraph has been deleted, because it referred to the registration system of the no longer extant Szőregi Virág-Dísznövény Áfész.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

5.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Obtaining and producing rootstocks

The subsection has been supplemented with two new paragraphs concerning the acquisition of rootstock, which explain that, owing to the smooth and steady supply of young plant rootstock and extreme weather conditions, it is becoming increasingly common to supply young plants from domestic and foreign tree nurseries and from abroad.

The paragraph on the storage of bundles (of young plants) has also been supplemented with a sentence setting out the conditions for refrigerated storage.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

6.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Soil preparation

This subsection has been amended in line with current practice (manure does not need to be spread in rows; horse ploughing is no longer used).

This amendment does not affect the single document.

7.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Planting

This subsection has been amended in line with current practice to state that, besides manual planting, machine planting is becoming ever more widespread.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

8.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Grafting

This subsection has been amended in line with current practice; the starting time for grafting has been changed and details have been provided on the opening of the rootstocks, grafting and wrapping.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

9.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Tasks after grafting

This subsection has been amended in line with current practice: the part relating to the incineration of cut canes has been deleted.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

10.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Harvesting

This subsection has been amended in line with current practice to include the machine harvesters and leaf removers which are coming into use, in addition to manual labour.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

11.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Sorting and bundling

This subsection has been supplemented in line with current practice to make reference to the current approach to the positioning of labels and to methods of bundling. The flowchart for the cultivation of ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ has been clarified.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

12.   Point 5 of the product specification: Method of production; Methods and techniques of packaging

The sentence relating to bundling already in the subsection on ‘Sorting and bundling’ has been deleted. This subsection has been supplemented to include methods of packaging proposed for use at time of sale.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

13.   Point 7 of the product specification: Inspection body

The data on inspection bodies has changed, so these have been updated.

This amendment does not affect the single document.

14.   Point 8 of the product specification: Labelling

Certain elements of the labelling to be used on the product, including the labelling requirements for wholesale distribution, have been clarified.

This amendment affects the single document.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Szőregi rózsatő’

EU No: PGI-HU-0389-AM01 - 19 November 2024

PDO () PGI (X)

1.   Name(s) (of PDO or PGI)

‘Szőregi rózsatő’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Hungary

3.   Description of agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Combined Nomenclature code

—	06 - LIVE TREES AND OTHER PLANTS; BULBS, ROOTS AND THE LIKE; CUT FLOWERS AND ORNAMENTAL FOLIAGE 0602 - Other live plants (including their roots), cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn 0602 40 - Roses, grafted or not

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

The improved bare-root rose that is marketed consists of rootstock and an improved cultivar grafted onto it. The following cultivars are used as rootstock: ‘Laxa’, ‘Polmeriana’, ‘Schmid’s Ideal’, ‘Inermis’ and ‘Multiflora’. The rootstock must have the following characteristics: the ability to endure temperatures as low as -30 °C without sustaining damage; be disease-resistant (primarily against rust, star-rust and mildew); be resistant to dryness and humidity; exhibit good growing vigour (develop strongly, healthily and fast); be lime-tolerant (with the exception of ‘Multiflora’); be easy to propagate (fast germination of seeds without lying is essential).

Improved garden and flowerbed, tea-hybrid, polyantha, floribunda, rambling, miniature and ground-cover rose cultivar groups are used in the production of ‘Szőregi rózsatő’. Scions from these groups can also be grafted onto their own trunk (with the exception of floribunda). The graft height may range from 40 cm to 140 cm.

The properties of the protected geographical indications ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ are grouped into either category A or B:

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category A covers improved roses from which, in the case of improved bare-root roses ramifying from a graft from which at least two canes develop, a third cane ramifies within 5 cm of the graft, the total cane diameter is 24 mm and each cane has a minimum diameter of 6 mm. For improved rambler roses the minimum cane length is 40 cm, for improved miniature roses it is 20 cm, whereas for roses falling within all other groups (garden and flower-bed, hybrid tea, polyantha, floribunda and ground-cover rose cultivar groups) it is 30 cm. The main root must ramify densely within 10 cm for all groups. The root must be at least 20 cm long,

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category B covers improved roses from which, in the case of improved bare-root roses ramifying from a graft from which at least two canes develop, the total cane diameter is at least 16 mm, and the minimum diameter of each cane is 6 mm. If the diameter of the two canes is less than 16 mm, a third cane with a minimum diameter of 6 mm must ramify within 5 cm,

—	all of these groups (with the exception of improved rambling roses) can be grafted onto their own trunk. The graft height may range from 40 cm to 140 cm. At least three canes must form from one graft, with each cane being of at least 6 mm in diameter.

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

—

3.4.   Specific steps to be taken for production in the identified geographical area

Obtaining and producing rootstocks

Preparing the soil for planting

Planting

Care and plant protection tasks

Grafting

Tasks after grafting

Harvesting

Sorting and bundling

Storage of rose cultivars

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

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

Category A rose cultivars are provided with a white label and category B rose cultivars with a pink label. The labels include the cultivar name and the National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) registration number identifying the producer. The name ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ also appears on the product – when placing it on the market abroad, also in the language of the nation concerned – as well as all other designations (such as the Union’s PGI symbol) required by the relevant Union and national legislation.

In the case of bare-root rose cultivars intended for wholesale distribution, the above-mentioned labelling requirements must be met at least for products in bundles of ten. If the bundle of ten is undone and the ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ denomination does not apply to particular rose cultivars, those particular rose cultivars are no longer considered to be protected.

The product must display its own coloured logo:

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The improved rose with the protected geographical indication ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ is produced within the administrative boundaries of the following localities in Csongrád-Csanád County: Szeged-Szőreg, Szeged-Mihálytelek, Szeged-Gyálarét, Algyő, Deszk, Újszentiván, Kübekháza and Tiszasziget.

5.   Link with the geographical area

The special quality of the ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ is due partly to more than a hundred years of tradition and partly to the area’s excellent climate and geographical conditions.

Historical link: In the Szeged-Szőreg region, cultivating roses and selling the grafted rootstocks and cut flowers started in Új-Szeged near the end of the 19th century. The history of rose cultivation in Szőreg is linked to the traditions of production in Szeged and Új-Szeged and to the development of gardens. The young grafting masters graduating from the Szeged nurseries settled in Szőreg, and did gardening for themselves, too, on their small parcels of 400-800 négyszögöl (1 440-2 880 m2). They established a nursery and most of the time sold the grafted rootstocks together with orders from the Szeged nursery, which employed them. At the beginning of the 1900s, a new economic sector sprang up in Szőreg, the pioneers being without exception poor, landless tenant peasant farmers and day-labourers. Since they were also practical experts, the small gardeners of Szőreg perfected their work, and after completing their own grafting work at home, went to faraway places to graft, thereby making Szőreg famous through their work. This small group taught the current group of gardeners. The golden age of Szőreg’s rose culture was in 1927.

The small nursery owners were interdependent. As they had particular problems selling their roses, they established their first cooperative in 1936. In 1938 the total area of the Szeged-Szőreg tree nurseries was 350 kh (2), and they prepared 1 250 000 grafts. The area of the rest of the nurseries in the country was 850 Hungarian acres, which produced 2 040 000 grafts. The Szeged-Szőreg nurseries had already begun to export roses in the first years of the 20th century. The Szeged-Szőreg nurseries accounted for an average of 63,6 % of the country’s total nursery exports (i.e. 587 000 grafts) between 1929 and 1931, which demonstrates that these small nurseries grew excellent grafts.

98 % of the roses produced in Hungary are grown in Szőreg and its vicinity, the only major rose-growing region in Hungary. ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ also enjoys a good reputation and high acclaim abroad, demonstrated by the fact that the vast majority (more than three quarters) of the 4-5 million improved roses produced each year are exported.

Natural factors: In addition to the traditions of cultivation, excellent environmental conditions also bind the rose to Szőreg. Three environmental conditions are necessary for producing good-quality, hardy and strong roses: good-quality and nutrient-rich soil, adequate water supply and enough sunshine.

The region where ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ is produced is on a former floodplain at the confluence of the Tisza and Maros rivers. The medium-compact loam which has developed here, with its high humus content and good drainage capacity, and the silty alluvial soil result in a densely ramifying rootstock containing more root-hairs than is the case for improved roses grown in other types of soil. Because of the good drainage capacity, water does not stagnate in the soil, and because of the soil’s loose and airy structure the oxygen necessary for good root development is available. The densely ramifying rootstock ensures better nutrient intake and the improved part grows better, develops strongly and yields more canes, shoots and flowers than plants grown in soil with other characteristics. The improved rose intended for marketing is therefore far more disease- and winter frost-resistant, and can also be relied on to retain its quality in other types of soil. The vicinity of the Tisza and Maros rivers also ensures optimal relative humidity for rose cultivation and the possibility of irrigation.

Among the most important environmental conditions for rose cultivation is light, given that it provides the energy necessary for photosynthesis. Beside the number of hours of sunshine, the length of the day, the light strength and energy also greatly influence the quality of ‘Szőregi rózsatő’. The Szőreg rose-growing region has the hottest summers and most sunlight of any region in the country. The average annual temperature is 11,5 °C, whereas during the growing season it is 18 °C. The region experiences more than 2 100 hours of sunlight, which exceeds the average for regions further north. The growing season starts earlier in the spring and lasts longer into the autumn and the vegetative period is extended, so the plants receive a greater total amount of sunlight and heat than more northerly areas. This results in robust growth. The improved roses withstand autumn well, producing a thick, suitably lignified mass of canes with well-developed, healthy buds. Rich nutrient reserves in the hardy canes allow the autumn-gathered rose cultivars to be subjected to long-term storage and facilitate rooting after planting in the following years. Resistance to frosts is increased by the fact that in the Szőreg area it is not uncommon for hot summers to be followed by harsh winters, during which the plants harden sufficiently for the remainder of their lives. Rooting by the ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ following planting is assured.

Human factors, expertise: The production of the ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ dates back more than a century and possesses traditions that are unique in the country. The exceedingly labour- and skill-intensive cultivation of the improved rose is typically undertaken on family farms made up of many generations. The knowledge and skills developed in the region are passed on from generation to generation. These include passing on traditions of cultivation, hand-grafting techniques and dexterity.

In summary, it could be said that the Tisza-Maros region, with its continental climate, nutrient-rich, loosely structured and ideally irrigated loamy and alluvial soil and exposure to sunlight, is congenial to the cultivation of ‘Szőregi rózsatő’. As a result of the exceptional natural conditions and specialist knowledge and experience transmitted from father to son, the specific properties of ‘Szőregi rózsatő’ are preserved under any climatic condition.

Reference to the publication of the specification

https://gi.kormany.hu/download/a/6d/43000/Sz%C5%91regi%20r%C3%B3zsat%C5%91_term%C3%A9kle%C3%ADr%C3%A1s_2024.pdf

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(1)   OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.