26.5.2016

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 187/21

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Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2016/C 187/06)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘KORČULANSKO MASLINOVO ULJE’

EU No: HR-PDO-0005-01351 — 1.7.2015

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1.   Name(s)

2.   Member State or Third Country

Croatia

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

Class 1.5. Oils and fats (butter, margarine, oils, etc.)

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

‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ is an extra-virgin olive oil obtained directly from the fruit of the olive tree solely by mechanical means.

At the time of being placed on the market, ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ must have the following physico-chemical and organoleptic properties:

—	free fatty acid content ≤ 0,6 %;

—	peroxide value ≤ 6 mmol O2/kg;

—	K232 ≤ 2,50

—	K270 ≤ 0,22

—	colour ranging from golden yellow to green;

—	pronounced aroma of green fruit and olive leaves (median for ‘fruity’ ≥ 2,5);

—	pronounced and homogeneous medium to intense bitter and sharp taste with a lasting aftertaste (median for bitterness and sharpness ≥ 3).

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

The basic raw materials for producing ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ are olives of the indigenous cultivars ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’, either by themselves or in combination with each other and comprising at least 80 % of the product. Other olive cultivars grown in the geographical area defined under point 4 comprise no more than 20 % of all the olives processed to produce ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ and do not have a significant influence on the quality of the final product.

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

All stages of production of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ (cultivation, harvest and processing of the olives) must take place in the defined geographical area referred to under point 4.

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

Storage and bottling of the oil must also take place in the defined geographical area referred to under point 4 in order to preserve the specific organoleptic properties and quality of the product, which could be adversely affected by decanting. Each subsequent decanting of the oil outside the defined geographical area, or transport by sea over longer distances, given possible restricted transport connections between the island of Korčula and the mainland, could ultimately have an adverse effect on the quality of the oil. For these reasons the product cannot be bottled outside the defined geographical area. ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ is placed on the market in (dark) glass containers of a volume not exceeding 1 litre.

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

The harvest year must be indicated on the product label. Every container placed on the market must feature the common identifier. The design of the common identifier is shown below.

All users of the designation of origin who place the product on the market in accordance with its specification have the right to use the common identifier, under the same conditions.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ comprises the entire island of Korčula, i.e. the cadastral municipalities of Vela Luka, Blato, Smokvica, Čara, Račišće, Pupnat, Žrnovo, Korčula and Lumbarda.

To the west, the island is separated from the island of Hvar by the 15-kilometre-wide Korčula Channel, to the north from the Pelješac Peninsula by the 2,5-kilometre-wide Pelješac Channel, and to the south from the island of Lastovo by the 13-kilometre-wide Lastovo Channel.

5.   Link with the geographical area

Specificity of the geographical area

The island of Korčula is dominated by craggy, mountainous terrain composed mainly of rock, with little arable land. The arable land has been cleared of rock and converted into terraces. The rock removed from the land is then used to build dry-stone walls which enclose the terraces. The dry-stone walls retain the fertile soil on the terraces; in other words, they prevent it from being washed away by rain. In that terraced fertile soil, enclosed by dry-stone walls, olive groves made up primarily of trees of the indigenous ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars are planted.

The main types of arable land can be divided into two groups: terraced regosols and field regosols. Regosols are most often composed of calcic cambisols and terra rossa.

The island of Korčula has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and dry and hot summers. The high average temperatures are the result of high exposure to sunlight. Mean annual temperatures on the island of Korčula range between 15,6 °C and 16,8 °C. The hottest month is July, with an average temperature of 25,9 °C, whereas the coldest month is February, with an average temperature of 9,1 °C.

From the point of view of exposure to sunlight, Korčula is very well-suited to olive growing. July has the most hours of sunlight (373,7 or around 12 hours of sun a day), whereas December has the fewest (125,3 or around 4 hours a day).

In terms of annual precipitation, the climate of the island of Korčula is characteristically humid. The most precipitation falls in the colder part of the year, from October to March, when the average monthly precipitation ranges from 80 mm to 150 mm. The least amount of precipitation falls from June to August, ranging on average from 30 mm to 45 mm.

Human factors

The population of the island of Korčula has played the main role in forming the island’s landscape. Olive growers have worked the craggy mountainous terrain, transforming it into terraced arable land and adapting it to the cultivation of olive trees enclosed within dry-stone walls. The difficulty of accessing the hill terraces precludes the use of large machinery. Harvesting is done by hand and with mechanical hand tools.

The island of Korčula has changed owners regularly since prehistoric times, so a multitude of historical events have influenced life and the development of cash crops on the island. An abundance of historical evidence testifies to the cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil on island of Korčula since the time of colonisation by the Ancient Greeks and under Roman and Venetian rule. Written sources dating from the time when Korčula came under Venetian rule mention that ‘the Venetian government bought up oil at a very low price, which forced the inhabitants of the island to start smuggling it. Although strict penalties were introduced, figures show that oil from Korčula managed to travel even as far as Trieste.’ (S. Dokoza, Iz gospodarske i društvene povijesti Blata do XVIII. st., Zbornik radova, Blato, 2003).

Specificity of the product

The specificity of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ stems from the assortment of indigenous olive cultivars ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ which make up 80 % of the olives on the island of Korčula.

In his scientific work (Elajografija otoka Korčule (1995), Pavle Bakarić states that the indigenous olive cultivars ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ differ from other varieties on the island of Korčula (‘Velika Lastovka’, ‘Vrtušćica’, ‘Oblica’) in terms of their morphological, biological and commercial characteristics. He also states that fresh olives from those two cultivars contain a greater proportion of oil (from 16,40 % to 24 %) than fresh olives of other cultivars.

The specificity of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ stems from its aroma (reminiscent of green fruit and olive leaves) and taste (of homogeneous medium to intense bitterness and sharpness) resulting from its high share of total phenols, which are account for its sensory properties, i.e. bitterness and sharpness. This has been proven through research (M. Žanetić, D. Škevin, E. Vitanović, M. Jukić Špika and S. Perica, Ispitivanje fenolnih spojeva i senzorski profil dalmatinskih djevičanskih maslinovih ulja, Pomologia croatica vol. 17, 2011) which found that olive oil of the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars contained a higher proportion of total phenols (more than 350 mg/kg) than that from the other cultivars analysed (‘Oblica’ and ‘Levantinka’), which had a total phenol content of 161,15 mg/kg. It was also found that the ‘Lastovka’ cultivar has the largest proportion of hydroxytyrosols (214,32 mg/kg), and ‘Drobnica’ the largest proportion of tyrosols (84,37 mg/kg) of the cultivars analysed. Phenolic compounds in oil from the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars give it its high oxidative stability and a long shelf life. The high proportion of phenolic compounds influences the bitterness and sharpness of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ (median for bitterness and sharpness ≥ 3), and the balance between these two attributes is best expressed in the ‘Drobnica’ and ‘Lastovka’ cultivars, from which the abovementioned olive oil is produced.

Around 1 000 agricultural holdings and 10 olive mills are engaged in olive cultivation and olive oil production on the island of Korčula today. Olive growing is an important economic activity on the island, and the name ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ is still used today in everyday parlance, and on the market (delivery and shipping note, Presa d.o.o., Zlokić d.o.o., 2014).

Causal link

The specific pedo-climatic conditions of the island of Korčula and human activity play a role in creating the specificity of ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’.

The local inhabitants transformed the island’s craggy and mountainous terrain into soil terraces enclosed by dry-stone walls in order to cultivate it. The terraces have been planted with olive groves made up primarily of olive trees of the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars. The walled terraces with olive trees constitute authentic features of the island’s landscape.

Producers have selected the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars as best suited to the specific pedo-climatic conditions. These represent 80 % of the olives grown on the island of Korčula.

Thanks to its geographical location, Korčula has predominantly very high daily temperatures with a very high number of sunlight hours. These favour the cultivation and growth of olives, especially those of the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars, which are extremely drought-resistant and have a particularly long harvest period (from October to the beginning of February).

Hand-picking the olives lets local producers set the ideal time for harvesting them. A direct effect of this is olives with high phenol content, which give ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ a medium to intense bitterness and sharpness of taste.

The island of Korčula’s specific climatic conditions, with its many hours of sunlight and low precipitation in the summer months, also lead directly to an increase in the phenol content of oils from the ‘Lastovka’ and ‘Drobnica’ cultivars. Analyses have shown this content to be greater than in other varieties tested, giving ‘Korčulansko maslinovo ulje’ its specific character.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

http://www.mps.hr/UserDocsImages/HRANA/KORCULANSKO%20MASLINOVO%20ULJE/2016-4-6%20-%20Izmijenjena%20Specifikacija%20proizvoda.pdf

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(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

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