Publication of an 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

(2007/C 85/01)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of this publication.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘CEREZA DEL JERTE’

EC No: ES/PDO/005/0233/20.02.2002

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary sets out the main elements of the product specification for information purposes.

1.   Responsible department in the Member State:

2.   group:

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.6: fruit

4.   Specification

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)

4.1.   Name: ‘Cereza del Jerte’

4.2.   Description: The protected designation of origin ‘Cereza del Jerte ’applies exclusively to table cherries for fresh consumption of species Prunus avium L., belonging to the local varieties ‘Navalinda’, ‘Ambrunés’, ‘Pico Limón Negro’, ‘Pico Negro ’and ‘Pico Colorado’.

The cherry varieties covered by the protected designation of origin belong to the following types:

Bigarreau cherries (‘Picotas’): the ‘Ambrunés’, ‘Pico Negro’, ‘Pico Colorado ’and ‘Pico Limón Negro ’varieties. Most of the production belongs to this group, called ‘bigarreau cherries’; these are cherries whose basic difference is that they separate naturally from the stem when they are picked.

Cherries with a stem: ‘Navalinda’

As regards the product's characteristics, the fruit is reddish in colour, the cherries being predominantly wine-red or purple. Depending on the variety, their flesh, which is firm and crunchy, varies from red to yellowish or cream-coloured, and their juice from red to colourless. The fruit may be kidney-shaped, flat-ended, rounded or elongated in form. Depending on the variety, the stone may be medium-sized, large or very large, and spherical or elongated in shape.

The following table summarises the main requirements as regards sugar content (measured in degrees Brix), form, minimum size and acidity (measured in mequivalents/100 ml of malic acid) for each of the protected varieties:

Table 1:

sugar content, form, minimum size and acidity of the cherries protected by the PDO, by variety

Cherries protected by the PDO ‘Cereza del Jerte ’will be from the ‘Extra ’class only, as defined in the marketing standard for cherries adopted in Commission Regulation (EC) No 214/2004 of 6 February 2004.

4.3.   Geographical area: The production area lies in the Jerte, Ambroz and La Vera mountain valleys in the north of the province of Cáceres, in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura.

The strong link between quality, mountain location of the farms and type of production means that land and farms not located in the hill-farming area are excluded from the geographical area, based on the following heights above sea level:

Valley of the Jerte: all farms in all municipalities are included, irrespective of altitude;

District of La Vera: farms below 500 m are excluded;

Valley of the Ambroz: farms below 600 m are excluded.

The production area coincides with the bottling and packaging area.

4.4.   Proof of origin: The quality and origin of the protected product will be ensured by checks and analyses carried out by the Consejo Regulador (Regulatory Council) at the plantations and packing warehouses entered in the various registers for the protected designation of origin, in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Manual de Calidad (Quality Manual) and the Manual de Procedimientos (Manual of Procedures).

On completion of all the checks referred to above, the Assessment Committee of the Consejo Regulador, on which all the parties concerned are represented, will evaluate the results in order to reach an impartial and objective decision. Where the Assessment Committee decides in favour of certification, the Consejo Regulador will issue the corresponding certificate.

The cherries protected by the PDO ‘Cereza del Jerte ’must be packaged in the defined geographical area, as prescribed by the applicant group, since this is considered necessary to safeguard the quality and ensure traceability and control throughout the certification process.

The process is completed when a numbered, second label is affixed to their packaging, guaranteeing their origin and quality; this is issued by the Consejo Regulador, the scope of whose powers is defined in its regulation as follows:

as regards territory, the production area;

as regards products, those protected by the PDO ‘Cereza del Jerte ’at all stages of production, storage, packaging, distribution and marketing;

as regards persons, those in the various registers.

This means that packaging must take place in the designated geographical area, as defined in section C of this Specification, to ensure traceability and control by the inspection body throughout the process and ensure the quality of the protected product, since, in a mountain area with difficult access routes, transportation of the cherries would involve subjecting them to inappropriate environmental conditions, exacerbated by the longer transport time. There is no doubt that this would affect the fruit's specific characteristics, and could alter the product profiles defined in the Designation of Origin.

The product will be placed on the market with a guarantee of origin in the form of the numbered label or second label of the Consejo Regulador.

4.5.   Method of production: The crop is grown on small terraced farms on the hillsides. The average size of the smallholdings is 1.6 ha and 4.5 plots per farm.

This structure means that most of the farms use family labour to carry out the main tasks, in particular picking the cherries, which is very arduous and requires considerable practice.

The spacing of the trees is determined by the narrowness of the terraces, a very high proportion of which allow no more than a single line of trees, occupying approximately 125 feet/ha, which indicates a high degree of extensification. The trees are trained using the tall-cone, short-cone, pyramidical and standard systems.

Draught animals are still largely used for ploughing, which is usually carried out three times a year. Similarly, fertilisation still relies on manure and turning weeds under. Pruning is generally light and is limited to singling and tipping.

Crop cultivation methods, which are imbued with age-old traditions, and the picking, processing, packaging and transport of the product are carried out with great care, the necessary checks being made so that the product retains its typical features.

4.6.   Link: The name ‘Jerte ’or ‘Valle del Jerte ’has a close link with cherries, a large number of consumers in Spain automatically associating the place with the ‘cherry ’product, or vice versa. The area is well-known therefore for the excellence of its cherries and in particular of its ‘Picotas ’(bigarreau cherries).

Legend has it that the cherry tree was introduced by the Arabs and that, after the Reconquest, the new settlers found that it had adapted to the land. Not until the 14th century, however, is there reliable evidence of its existence.

On 2 June 1352 a party of the king's emissaries stopped to spend the night in one of the villages in the area. The knights ate trout and cherries there, which shows that already at that time the cherry was a choice product of sufficient quality to offer to such distinguished travellers.

In the following centuries, cherry-growing survived and prospered. The famous Spanish doctor, Luis de Toro, refers to the cherries of the Jerte in the 16th century and differentiates them by size, colour and flavour.

It was in the 18th century, when the chestnut groves were ravaged by ink disease, that the cherry started to become a genuine economic alternative. At the end of that century and throughout the 19th, cherry orchards spread in the Valle del Jerte and the two neighbouring valleys.

In the early 1800s, writers were already maintaining that the best thing about the area ‘… are its cherries, which accordingly are very appreciated at Court…’. Throughout the century, cherry trees spread to all villages, so that at the dawn of the 20th the area was well-known for ‘its delicious cherries’.

The five protected varieties are indigenous, coming either from the Valle del Jerte or from the neighbouring valleys of the Ambroz and La Vera. They are virtually exclusive to this region, since attempts to introduce them elsewhere have so far had little success.

Various authors state that the presence of stemless cherry varieties in the valley of the Jerte is the result of a long process of acclimatisation and semi-induced selection from different stocks of Prunus avium L., an indigenous forest species present in these mountain valleys since ancient times.

Combined with the improvements and clonal selection carried out by the inhabitants of the Jerte, environmental factors such as high humidity (even in summer), the breezes in the valley, its orientation, average annual sunshine, altitude, the variety of microclimates and the acidity of the soil have done the rest

The structure of the properties and the conditions resulting from the difficult topography form a landscaped area of small, sometimes tiny, terraces supported by stone walls, which has to be worked largely without recourse to mechanisation.

The product's characteristics are therefore determined by the use of specific plant material, adapted and acclimatised to the environmental conditions typical of the Jerte basin and the neighbouring valleys, but also by the special features of a system of production where cherry growing is tied to farming traditions based on smallholding and the family organisation of labour. The farms, generally situated on terraced plots on steeply sloping hillsides where mechanisation is difficult, make it possible to balance the low yields obtained with better quality.

4.7.   Inspection body:

The inspection body for the designation of protected origin ‘Cereza del Jerte ’satisfies the European Standard EN45011.

4.8.   Labelling: The name of the protected designation of origin ‘Cereza del Jerte ’must be prominently displayed on the packaging.

(1)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.

(2)  These are the minimum diameters required for the cherries to qualify for the PDO ‘Cereza del Jerte’, so that cherries with a diameter of less than 21mm cannot be marketed under the PDO.