Publication of an application for approval of an amendment, which is not minor, to a product specification pursuant to Article 50(2)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2021/C 392/06)

This publication confers the right to oppose the amendment application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) within three months from the date of this publication.

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF TRADITIONAL SPECIALITIES GUARANTEED WHICH IS NOT MINOR

Application for approval of an amendment in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

‘HEUMILCH’/‘HAYMILK’/‘LATTE FIENO’/‘LAIT DE FOIN’/‘LECHE DE HENO’

EU No: TSG-AT-1035-AM01 – 25 February 2021

1.   Applicant group and legitimate interest

Name of the group:	ARGE Heumilch Österreich
Address:	Grabenweg 68
	6020 Innsbruck
	ÖSTERREICH
Telephone:	+43 512345245
Email address:	office@heumilch.at

Statement on the legitimate interest of the group:

The application for an amendment is being submitted by the producer group that submitted the application for registration of ‘Haymilk’.

The indication of the designation ‘Haymilk’ in the languages of countries with a tradition of producing ‘Haymilk’ constitutes a commitment to the traditional production method and the traditional speciality guaranteed. In doing so, it helps strengthen the protected designation ‘Haymilk’, which also benefits the applicant group.

2.   Member State or Third Country

Austria

3.   Heading in the product specification affected by the amendments

☒ Name of product

☐ Description of product

☐ Method of production

☐ Other [to be specified]

4.   Type of amendment(s)

☒	Amendment to product specification of registered TSG not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

5.   Amendments

Addition of the Slovenian designation for ‘Haymilk’:

In point ‘3.1. Names to be registered’ (in the product specification following the template in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014, now point 1. ‘Name(s) to be registered’), the Slovenian designation for ‘Haymilk’ has been added:

‘Heumilch’ (de)/‘Haymilk’ (en)/‘Latte fieno’ (it)/‘Lait de foin’ (fr)/‘Leche de heno’ (es)/‘Seneno mleko’ (sl)

Reason: As ‘Haymilk’ is produced in Slovenia following the traditional production method set out in the product specification, the Slovenian designation should also be protected.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF A TRADITIONAL SPECIALITY GUARANTEED

‘Heumilch’/‘Haymilk’/‘Latte fieno’/‘Lait de foin’/‘Leche de heno’/‘Seneno mleko’

EU No: TSG-AT-1035-AM01 – 25 February 2021

‘Austria’

1.   Name(s)

‘Heumilch’/‘Haymilk’/‘Latte fieno’/‘Lait de foin’/‘Leche de heno’/‘Seneno mleko’

2.   Type of product

Class 1.4. Other products of animal origin (eggs, honey, various dairy products except butter, etc.)

3.   Grounds for registration

3.1.   Whether the product:

☒	results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice for that product or foodstuff;

☐	is produced from raw materials or ingredients that are those traditionally used.

Haymilk production is the most natural form of milk production. The milk comes from animals on traditional, sustainable dairy farms. The key difference between standard milk and haymilk, and haymilk’s traditional character, stems from the fact that as in the earliest form of milk production, animals are not fed fermented fodder. Since the 1960s, and due to mechanisation, the industrialisation of farming has increasingly relied upon the production of silage (fermented fodder), thus reducing fresh-fodder farming. Moreover, regulations forbid the use of animals and feed which are to be identified as ‘genetically modified’ under prevailing legislation. The feeding procedure is adapted to match seasonal changes: in the ‘green-feeding period’, animals are fed fresh grass and foliage and some hay and forms of feed permitted under point 4.2; in the winter period, animals are fed hay, or other forms of feed permitted under point 4.2.

3.2.   Whether the name:

☐	has been traditionally used to refer to the specific product;

☒	identifies the traditional character or specific character of the product.

4.   Description

4.1.   Description of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including its main physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics showing the product’s specific character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

Cow’s milk in accordance with the applicable legislation.

4.2.   Description of the production method of the product to which the name under point 1 applies that the producers must follow including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used, and the method by which the product is prepared (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

Haymilk is produced according to traditional production conditions that comply with the ‘Heumilchregulativ’ (regulations on haymilk production). This form of milk is distinguished by rules forbidding the use of fermented fodder, such as silage, and rules forbidding the use of animals and feed which are to be identified as ‘genetically modified’ under prevailing legislation.

‘Heumilchregulativ’

‘Haymilk’ is a form of cow’s milk extracted from lactating cows, produced by dairy farmers who have undertaken to comply with the following criteria. No animals or feed which are to be identified as ‘genetically modified’ under prevailing legislation may be used.

The entire agricultural holding must be managed according to the rules of haymilk production.

a)	A holding can however be divided into clearly defined production units, which do not all have to be managed according to these rules. They must be divided according to distinct production sectors.

b)	If, pursuant to point (a), not all units of the holding are managed according to the rules of haymilk production, the operator must keep the animals used in haymilk production units separate from the animals used in the other units, and keep appropriate records to show the separation.

Permitted types of feed

—	The animals are mainly fed fresh grass, leguminous plants and foliage during the ‘green-feeding period’, and hay in the winter period.

—	The following are included and permitted as further roughage: green rapeseed, green maize, green rye and fodder beets, as well as hay, lucerne and maize pellets and similar types of feed.

—	Roughage must make up at least 75 % of the yearly ration of dry feed.

—	The following cereal crops are also permitted, in their conventional marketed form and in composites with bran, pellets, etc.: wheat, barley, oats, triticale, rye and maize.

—	The following may also be used as feed: beans, field peas, lupins, oleaginous fruits, and extraction meal or cakes.

Forbidden types of feed

—	The following types of feed are prohibited: silage (fermented fodder), moist hay and fermented hay.

—

Animals may not be fed by-products from breweries, distilleries, fruit pressing, or other by-products from the food industry, such as wet brewer’s grains or wet cuttings. Exception: dry cuttings and molasses as a by-product of sugar manufacturing, and dry protein feed produced during grain processing.

—	Lactating animals may not be fed any form of wet fodder.

—	Animals may not be fed products of animal origin (milk, whey, meat-and-bone meal, etc.), except for young cows, which may be fed milk and whey.

—	Animals may not be fed garden waste, fallen fruit, potatoes or urea.

Fertilisation conditions

—	The use of sewage sludge, sewage sludge products, or compost from municipal treatment plants, with the exception of green compost, is prohibited on all areas agriculturally exploited by the milk supplier.

—	Milk suppliers must wait at least three weeks after manure spreading before use of land to graze livestock.

Use of chemical auxiliary substances

—	Only the selective use of synthetic chemical pesticides under the expert supervision of agronomic specialists, and the targeting of specific sites in any of the green fodder areas of the dairy farm is permitted.

—	Permitted fly sprays may be used in dairy stalls only when the lactating cows are absent.

Delivery prohibitions

—	Milk may not be delivered as ‘haymilk’ within ten days after calving.

—	When cows that have been fed silage (fermented fodder) are used, there must be a waiting period of at least 14 days.

—

As regards alpine animals on their farms which have been fed silage (fermented fodder), either they must be fed silage-free food for 14 days before they are driven up to alpine pastures, or their milk can be classed as ‘haymilk’ only once they have spent 14 days on alpine pastures (owned by the haymilk supplier). No silage may be produced or used as feed on the alpine pasture.

Prohibition of genetically modified food and feed

—	In order to preserve the traditional production of haymilk, no animals or feed which are to be identified as ‘genetically modified’ under prevailing legislation may be used.

Other regulations:

—	No silage (fermented fodder) may be produced or stored.

—	No film-wrapped round bales of any type may be produced or stored.

—	No moist hay or fermented hay may be produced.

4.3.   Description of the key elements establishing the product’s traditional character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

Specific character

Haymilk is different from standard cow’s milk on account of its special production conditions pursuant to point 4.2 of the ‘Heumilchregulativ’.

Studies by Dr Ginzinger et al. of the Bundesanstalt für alpenländische Milchwirtschaft (Federal Agency for alpine dairy farming) in Rotholz, in 1995 and 2001, showed that 65 % of the silage-milk samples analysed had over 1 000 clostridia spores per litre. Analysis of milk delivered to a large cheese manufacturer showed that 52 % of the samples had over 10 000 clostridia spores per litre. Studies showed that 85 % of the silage-free haymilk samples analysed had fewer than 200 spores per litre, and 15 % of the samples contained between 200 and 300 spores per litre. Haymilk has a particularly low level of clostridia spores on account of special feeding methods. When hard cheese is manufactured from raw haymilk, there are fewer major problems regarding holes and flavour.

As part of the research project on ‘the influence of silage on milk quality’, the taste of milk from animals that had and had not been fed on silage was analysed (Ginzinger and Tschager, Bundesanstalt für alpenländische Milchwirtschaft, Rotholz, 1993). 77 % of the examined milk samples from hay-fed animals did not have taste problems. As regards milk samples from silage-fed animals (standard milk), only 29 % of the sampled milk was free from taste problems. There was also a significant difference between tests on milk from delivery lorry tanks. 94 % of the tests on silage-free haymilk had no taste problems. However, the proportion of silage-milk samples free from taste problems was only 45 %.

A thesis study at the University of Vienna (by Schreiner, Seiz and Ginzinger, 2011) proved that haymilk has approximately double the content of omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acids when compared to standard milk, on account of the feeding based on roughage and pasture associated with that form of milk.

Traditional character

Haymilk production and processing is as old as the tradition of dairy farming (dating back to around the 5th century BCE). In the Middle Ages, in the foothills of the Alps and the Tyrolean mountains, cheese was already being produced from haymilk on ‘Schwaighöfe’ (small-scale Alpine dairy farms). The word ‘Schwaig’ comes from Middle High German and denotes a special form of settlement and, in particular, farming in the Alpine region. ‘Schwaighof’ farms were often established as permanent settlements by land-owners and their cattle stock was primarily used for dairy farming (particularly for cheese production). They have existed in the Tyrol and Salzburg since the twelfth century. In the mountainous areas, haymilk was originally linked to the production of hard cheese from raw milk. As early as around 1900, laws (milk regulations) were already passed regarding silage-free milk suitable for the production of hard cheese. In Austria, such laws formed the basis of the ‘Milchregulative’ (milk regulations) of the provinces of Vorarlberg, the Tyrol and Salzburg around 1950. In 1975 these ‘Milchregulative’ were harmonised and adopted by the Austrian dairy farming body as the rules on milk suitable for the production of hard cheese (see: ‘Bestimmungen über die Übernahme von hartkäsetauglicher Milch’ (rules on milk suitable for producing hard cheese), Österreichische Milchwirtschaft Heft 14, Beilage 6 Nr. 23c, 21 July 1975). The former dairy farming authority in Austria regulated certain production areas known as ‘silage-free zones’ up until 1993, in order to preserve the raw material ‘haymilk’ (also known as ‘silage-free milk’ and ‘milk suitable for the production of hard cheese’) for cheese manufacturers reliant on raw milk. In 1995, the silage-free zone for haymilk was further protected by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Water and Environment Management in its ‘non-use of silage measure’, contained in the ‘special guidelines to promote an environmentally friendly, extensive form of agriculture that protects natural living space’ (the Austrian programme for environmentally friendly agriculture, known as ‘ÖPUL’).

In alpine regions animals have always traditionally been fed according to the haymilk criteria. There are documents and certificates dating from 1544 charting alpine cheese production for the Wildschönauer Holzalm alpine pasture in the Tyrol.

Since the start of the 1980s, some haymilk farmers have also been farming according to organic/ecological criteria.

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(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.