Publication of an application for registration pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin

(2005/C 240/07)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Articles 7 and 12d of the abovementioned Regulation. Any objection to this application must be submitted via the competent authority in a Member State, in a WTO member country or in a third country recognized in accordance with Article 12(3) within a time limit of six months from the date of this publication. The arguments for publication are set out below, in particular under 4.6, and are considered to justify the application within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92.

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

‘CLÉMENTINE DE CORSE’

EC No: FR/00300/02.07.2003

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

This summary has been drawn up for information purposes only. For full details, in particular for the producers of the PDO or PGI concerned, please consult the complete version of the product specification obtainable at national level or from the European Commission (1).

1.   Responsible department in the Member State:

2.   Group:

2.1   Name: Association pour la Défense et la Promotion de la Clémentine de Corse (APRODEC)

2.2   Address:

2.3   Composition: Producers/processors (X) Other (X): Nursery gardeners

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.6. Fresh or processed fruit, vegetables and cereals.

4.   Specification

(summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1   Name: ‘Clémentine de Corse’

4.2   Description: The ‘Clémentine de Corse’ is a pipless clementine (Citrus clementina) which should have the following characteristics:

a reddish-orange colour with up to 1/5 of the surface area of the peel green,

medium-sized to small, with a maximum cross-section diameter of between 46 and 68 mm,

a minimum juice content of 42 %,

a tart taste,

an internal ripeness defined by the proportion (E/A) of sugar content of its juice (E), expressed in Brix concentration, to the acidity of the same juice (A) expressed in grams of citric acid per 100 g. The proportion E/A should be between 8 and 17, where the acidity level is between 0.65 and 1.4,

at least 30 % of the fruit marketed with one or two leaves attached to the stalk.

4.3   Geographical area: The Clémentine de Corse's geographical production area covers the territory or part of the territory of certain municipalities in the Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud Departments, which make up the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean. Most of the territory lies in coastal areas and is defined by altitude, slope and distance from the sea (see paragraph 4.6).

Production, harvesting and packaging operations are all done in the PGI area.

4.4   Proof of origin: Each operator is inspected in advance and authorised by the applicant group and the certification body. An initial identification of each orchard block ensures traceability, which is maintained throughout the various stages leading to the final consumer.

Each holding has an orchard list identifying the clementine tree parcels and orchard blocks. A grower's notebook makes it possible to keep track of the type of work carried out by grower and by orchard block. Each consignment of fruit harvested is identified by grower and by orchard block. It keeps this identification number on delivery to the packing station, for the ‘in’ and ‘out’ registration and on dispatching and transporting.

At the stage of sale to the final consumer, the packs are consequently identified by a number which includes the number of the packaged batch, the number of the packing station, the number of the holding and the orchard block from which the batch comes.

4.5   Method of production: The production system used by Corsican citrus fruit growers is based on agronomic management measures applied by orchard block.

An ‘orchard block’ is a number of clementine trees satisfying the following conditions: they comprise a single variety, are found in a homogeneous area (from the point of view of soil, exposure, altitude), managed in a uniform way, independent of other orchard blocks on the holding (times and methods of fertilising, irrigating, health protection, various treatments, pruning, harvesting etc.)

The know-how, obtained by pooling the experience of growers, the result of twenty years of local agronomic research and the development of tools to aid network decision-making make it possible to obtain a homogeneous and specific quality of fruit.

The clementine trees are pruned each year.

Fertilisation and irrigation are adjusted on the basis of regularly measured agronomic and analytic parameters. Parcels must have an irrigation system.

The fruit is harvested manually as soon as the fruit has attained its optimum colour and ripeness on the tree. There are several pickings to optimise the homogeneity of the batches harvested. The fruit is picked with its leaves to guarantee freshness.

Once the fruit has been picked, it may not be treated chemically. The use of colour enhancers is prohibited. At the packing stage the clementines are merely coated in natural wax and selected to comply with the quality standards for the ‘Corsican clementine’.

Size grading and packing operations take place in the PGI area to preserve the quality of the fruit, ensure produce traceability and facilitate checks on these stages of production. The rules on sizing, adopted collectively by the operators, make it possible to achieve a strict definition of a given size class. Fruit certified under the PGI comprises only sizes 1 to 5. The final PGI approval is based on packed consignments.

The packaging guarantees the identification and quality of the fruit until it is sold to the final consumer.

4.6   Link: While the cultivation of clementine trees plays an important part in the island's present-day economy, the tradition of growing citrus fruit is very old in Corsica. Some authors date its introduction from the very beginning of the Christian era with orchards situated especially on the terraces of the east coast foothills up to Cap Corse and Balagna. Apart from citrons, abandoned as cash crops on account of exceptionally bad weather conditions whose consequences were accentuated by an unfavourable economic situation, the island's old citrus fruit orchard also comprises orange, mandarin and lemon tree plantations, to which numerous writers allude and which survive here and there, bearing witness to the citrus-growing history of the island.

When the clementine tree was discovered in Algeria in the 1920s, plants were frequently brought to Corsica and planted there. Thereafter, detailed technical and economic studies conducted by the San Giuliano Agricultural Research Station, set up in Corsica at the end of the 1950s, demonstrated that the clementine tree should be given pride of place in citrus-growing in this region.

From 1964, citrus growers had no hesitation in planting clementine trees extensively. Nowadays, the Corsican orchard covers more than 2 000 hectares and gives an average yield of 22 000 tonnes.

Today it may be said that the Clémentine de Corse is clearly renowned and that the leaf attached to it is closely associated with its origin. The Corsican clementine is considered to be a specific product in terms of its qualities (size, taste, juiciness and colour).

That said, the specific qualities, while influenced by the growers, also reflect the soil and climate of the island, and its very insularity:

The citrus growing soil of the PGI area of Corsica is distinguished from the soil frequently found elsewhere in the Mediterranean by its granite and slate origins and by its often more acid and lighter character, resembling the soil found in temperate maritime climates. This soil makes it possible to develop specific rootstocks which give the fruit a special quality.

The maritime influence and neighbouring presence of mountains give the production area a special climate typified by moderate temperatures, high rainfall and atmospheric humidity, which help to produce a fruit with a specific colour and taste (more acidic, less sweet).

In addition, the fact that Corsica is an island helps to keep the clementine trees free from various serious viral diseases. The small size of the orchards, together with the mountainous terrain, is conducive to a better control over the evolution of parasites which could affect the fruit.

These are all reasons why the geographical area has been defined as where these soil and climatic conditions are to be found, together with a certain number of easily identifiable distinct criteria for indicating location, as follows:

Altitude: only areas between 2 and 300 metres are taken into consideration. Below two metres the soil is systematically unfavourable (salt, hydromorphic, peatland, too sandy). Above 300 metres the slope and climate are unfavourable.

Slope: it should be less than 25 %.

Distance from the sea: it should be less than 15 km, the limit for benefiting from the maritime climate.

4.7   Inspection body:

4.8   Labelling: The specific presentation for dispatching fruit under the PGI ‘Clémentine de Corse’ and the special labels on the packaging are validated by the inspection body.

In addition to the compulsory information in line with the commercial regulatory requirements, the following terms should appear on the unit packets ‘Protected Geographical Indication: Clémentine de Corse’.

4.9   National requirements: —

(1)  European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural product quality policy, B-1049 Brussels.