Publication of an amendment application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2010/C 22/11

This publication confers the right to object to the amendment application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months of the date of this publication.

AMENDMENT APPLICATION

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

Amendment application pursuant to Article 9

‘CAPPERO DI PANTELLERIA’

EC No: IT-PGI-0317-0307-29.05.2007

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Heading in the specification affected by the amendment:

2.   Type of amendment(s):

3.   Amendment(s):

3.1.   Description:

The possibility of using a maximum of 10 % of other varieties has been removed so as further to strengthen the link between the product and its area of origin.

The values for the product’s principal characteristics have been replaced by ranges that more accurately reflect local production conditions.

3.2.   Method of production:

The planting density has been amended since the distance concerned was difficult for the inspection body to check and so was therefore superfluous.

The maximum density per hectare has been increased from 1 500 plants to 2 000 and consequently the maximum yield per hectare has been increased from 2 250 to 3 000 kg.

The harvesting period and the quantity of salt used in preparation have been specified so as to make the production specification more exact and inspection more effective.

3.3.   National requirements:

The provisions that conferred upon the Sicilian regional authorities tasks that more properly fall within the remit of the approved inspection body have been deleted.

The arrangements for the checks carried out by the competent inspection body have been brought into line with Articles 10 and 11 of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘CAPPERO DI PANTELLERIA’

EC No: IT-PGI-0317-0307-29.05.2007

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Name:

‘Cappero di Pantelleria’

2.   Member State or Third Country:

Italy

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1.   Type of product (Annex III):

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

On release for consumption, ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’ is spherical or almost spherical, rarely oblong or conical, and green to mustard-coloured. It has a strong, aromatic smell, with no trace of mould or extraneous odours. It has the aromatic, salty flavour characteristic of Pantelleria capers with sea salt. Capers used in the production of ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’ must be from plants of the botanical species ‘Capperis spinosa’, variety ‘inermis’, cultivar ‘nocellara’. Other characteristics are:

3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only):

—

3.4.   Feed (for products of animal origin only):

—

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

All stages in the growing and preparation of ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’, from sowing to harvesting and subsequent salting, must take place exclusively on the Island of Pantelleria using local production methods. Harvesting must be by hand and must be staggered, leaving buds that are not sufficiently ripe on the plant. The capers must be dry salted using exclusively sea salt.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.:

—

3.7.   Specific rules concerning labelling:

In the designation and presentation of the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’, the words ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’ and ‘Indicazione geografica protetta’ (Protected Geographical Indication) must be printed in characters of the same size and colour.

The label must also bear the name, company name and address of the packer, the address of the undertaking preparing the product on Pantelleria, the production batch and the net weight as sold. Additional information may be given in another field of vision, provided this is not of a laudatory nature and does not mislead the consumer as to the nature and characteristics of the product.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area:

The production area of ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’ is the entire Island of Pantelleria in the Province of Trapani.

5.   Link with the geographical area:

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area:

The Island of Pantelleria is of volcanic origin and is extremely arid, due to very little rainfall, and therefore is an ideal environment for growing capers.

5.2.   Specificity of the product:

Over the centuries, this product has become widely known for its aroma and taste. Thus the need to protect this product from other similar products grown in the Mediterranean basin but lacking its particular qualities.

The extent of the area involved, the special care taken in cultivation and the creation of efficient processing and marketing structures have made the caper plant a special crop on the island, constituting an important source of income.

5.3.   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 first specific, historically verified evidence for Pantelleria capers comes from the essay by Professor P. Calcara, ‘Breve cenno sulla geognosia ed agricultura dell'isola di Pantelleria’ (‘A Short Account of the Geognosy and Agriculture of the Island of Pantelleria’), published in Palermo in 1855 in the ‘Giornale della Commissione d'Agricoltura e Pastorizia in Sicilia’ (Journal of the Commission on Arable and Livestock Farming in Sicily).

This essay points out the economic-commercial value of the caper for the society of Pantelleria at that time: ‘The caper grows spontaneously along the southern coast and on the arid cliffs of the island, and the poor gather the buds in the months of July and August, before they flower, and sell them to a class of people who, after separating them according to size, press them in brine or vinegar and then put them on the market’.

The economic value of the caper for Pantelleria is also confirmed by other reliable historical sources such as the 1894 edition of the German Brockhaus encyclopaedia, under the entry ‘Pantelleria’, and Dr Pietro Brignone Boccanera in his ‘Cenni Storici su Pantelleria’ (‘A Historical Account of Pantelleria’), published in Partanna in 1908, which states that, beginning in the second half of the 19th century, ‘… the caper was cultivated and the island achieved production of 60 000 kg of capers’.

This is sufficient to show the increasing importance of the caper in the island's economy, even if secondary to the growing of grapes, and especially ‘zibibbo’ grapes. More recently, from the beginning of the 1960s, caper growing surpassed grape growing in importance and both the area under capers and caper production itself have continued to increase, the latter reaching around 1 200 tonnes in 1983.

Reference to publication of the specification:

The Ministry launched the national objection procedure with the publication of the amendment proposal for the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Cappero di Pantelleria’ in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana.

The full text of the product specification is available at the following site:

http://www.politicheagricole.it/DocumentiPubblicazioni/Search_Documenti_Elenco.htm?txtTipoDocumento=Disciplinare%20in%20esame%20UE&txtDocArgomento=Prodotti%20di%20Qualit%E0>Prodotti%20Dop,%20Igp%20e%20Stg

or

by going directly to the home page of the Ministry (http://www.politicheagricole.it) and clicking on ‘Prodotti di Qualità’ (on the left of the screen) and finally on ‘Disciplinari di Produzione all’esame dell’UE [regolamento (CE) n. 510/2006]’.