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

(2006/C 287/02)

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

SUMMARY

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

Application for registration according to Article 5 and Article 17(2)

‘PIMENTÓN DE LA VERA’

EC No: ES/PDO/005/0321/29.10.2003

PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

This summary has been drawn up for information only. For full details, interested parties are invited to consult the full version of the product specification obtainable from the national authorities indicated in section 1 or from the European Commission (1).

1.   Responsible department in the Member State:

2.   Group:

3.   Type of product:

Class 1.8 — Other Annex II products (spices) — Paprika

4.   Specification (summary of requirements under Article 4(2))

4.1.   Name: ‘Pimentón de la Vera’

4.2.   Description: Paprika with the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ means the product from grinding the totally red fruits of the Jaranda, Jariza and Jeromín varieties of the ‘Ocales’ group, and the Bola variety, of the botanical species Capsicum annum L. and Capsicum longum L. collected when they are ripe, healthy and clean and have the colour typical of the variety, free of pests or disease, dried using oak and/or holm oak wood in the traditional fashion of the Vera, and which comes from the designated area of production.

La Vera paprika is a product with a smoky taste and aroma which is made intense and penetrating by the process of drying the chillies using smoke. It is deep red in colour and shiny. It imparts its colour vigorously, more in the case of the varieties from the Ocales group than the Bola variety. Taste, aroma and colour are very stable over time, mainly because of the slow and gentle drying process used.

Depending on taste, the paprika may be divided into three groups:

Sweet paprika: gentle taste, completely sweet. Made from the Bola and Jaranda varieties.

Ocal or sweet/hot paprika: slightly sharp on the palate. Made from the Jaranda and Jariza varieties.

Hot paprika: decidedly hot on the palate. Made from the Jeromín, Jariza and Jaranda varieties.

Physico-chemical characteristics: Pimentón de la Vera is defined by the following physical-chemical characteristics:

Size of the seed: the paprika seed must be milled so that it passes through a No 16 sieve or screen on the ASTM scale (equivalent to a 1,19 mm mesh).

Analytical characteristics:

Food ingredients: edible sunflower oil (a maximum of 3 % by weight of the dry product) may occasionally be added to the powdered paprika to give the final product consistency and shine. The addition of oil does not affect the specific character of the paprika and so no specific geographical origin is specified for the oil.

The prepared product must be totally free from seeds, veins, flower heads and stalks from varieties of chillies other than those authorised for each of the three groups of paprika, artificial colouring matters and other substances affecting the parameters defining this spice.

The proportion of seeds, veins, flower heads and stalks from the authorised varieties of chillies must be less than that of the rest of the fruit.

4.3.   Geographical area: The area of production of chillies for the production of paprika under the ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ Protected Designation of Origin comprises the following municipalities of the natural areas known as La Vera, Campo Arañuelo, Valle del Ambroz and Valle del Alagón, in the north of the Province of Cáceres: Abadía, Aldeanueva de la Vera, Aldeanueva del Camino, Aldehuela del Jerte, Arroyomolinos de la Vera, Carcaboso, Casas del Monte, Casatejada, Casillas de Coria, Cilleros, Collado, Coria, Cuacos de Yuste, El Toril, Galisteo, Garganta la Olla Gargantilla, Granja de Granadilla, Guijo de Galisteo, Guijo de Granadilla, Guijo de Santa Bárbara, Holguera, Jaraíz de la Vera, Jarandilla de la Vera, Losar de la Vera, Madrigal de la Vera, Majadas de Tiétar, Malpartida de Plasencia, Montehermoso, Moraleja, Morcillo, Navalmoral de la Mata, Pasarón de la Vera, Plasencia, Riolobos, Robledillo de la Vera, Rosalejo, Saucedilla, Segura de Toro, Serrejón, Talaveruela de la Vera, Talayuela, Tejeda de Tiétar, Torrejoncillo, Torremenga, Valdeobispo, Valverde de la Vera, Viandar de la Vera, Villanueva de la Vera, Zarza de Granadilla.

The area for preparation and packaging fully coincides with the area of production.

All the procedures for the production of ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ must be carried out in the municipalities listed above, i.e. growing, drying and processing all take place within this geographical area. This requirement is intended to provide greater guarantees of the origin, traceability and quality of the final product.

4.4.   Proof of origin: Protected la Vera paprika is produced in registered establishments from dried chillies from registered holdings in the area of production; once it has passed the checks laid down, it is marketed under the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ with a numbered secondary label. The chillies used come from the Jaranda, Jariza and Jeromín varieties in the ‘Ocales’ group and from the Bola variety.

4.5.   Method of production: This begins with seed planting from the end of February to early April, to secure chilli plants which will be finally planted out roughly between 15 May and 10 June.

The land where they are to be planted out is first properly prepared to provide the best conditions with any hard subsurface layers and clods broken up, hoeing and the addition of organic and mineral fertilisers and the shaping of the soil.

Planting is carried out by hand or using mechanical transplanters. The plants are then watered copiously to promote good root formation.

Depending on the holding, this is done by gravity, sprinkling or in some cases local irrigation systems.

Once the fruit is ripe it is harvested by hand and taken for drying on the holding itself. Water is removed by means of a vertical current of air with a fire beneath (smoke-drying). This is done by the farmer himself.

This system is conducive to slow, gentle, non-aggressive drying so that within 10 to 15 days the water content of the fruit falls from 80 % to under 15 %. The final product obtained (‘cáscara’) has a smoky taste and aroma and a very stable colour — these are features of the system of drying used.

The ‘cáscara’ is then taken to local mills for grinding on emery stones. The ground paprika is then passed through horizontally positioned stones known as ‘piedras de transmitir’. Occasionally, vegetable oil is added at this point up to the maximum proportion laid down in point 4.2.1.3 of this Summary. The addition of oil does not affect the specific character of the paprika. Finally, it is packaged and labelled and so is ready for marketing

4.6.   Link: The first references to the cultivation of La Vera paprika date from the sixteenth-century, when it was cultivated in the Monastery of Yuste (Cuacos de Yuste, La Vera district) by the Hieronymite friars.

Cultivation gradually spread from La Vera to neighbouring areas, the Campo Arañuelo, Valle del Ambroz and Valle del Alagón, becoming steadily more valued by farmers because of its profitability.

The industrial process for obtaining paprika began at the end of the seventeenth-century and expanded substantially in the mid-eighteenth-century. At that time the chillies were ground in water-powered flour mills located by streams. The coming of electricity to La Vera meant that electric mills could be used, leading to substantial improvements in the industry, which began to concentrate on producing paprika.

The varieties of chilli used for producing paprika are native ones belonging to the botanical species Capsicum annum L. and Capsicum longum L., the former being slightly oblate and the latter longer. The first group includes the Bola varieties-population and the second the Ocales varieties-population, also known as Agridulce de la Vera. These are very hardy varieties and very well adapted to the soil and climate of the area. Their splendid acclimatisation is the reason why they have not been replaced by varieties from elsewhere. Another important factor justifying the use of local vegetative material is that it is completely adapted to the system of drying by smoke, used in La Vera from the seventeenth-century to the present day.

The protection provided by the Sierra de Gredos, the properties of the soils, which are loose and totally free from salt, the quality of the water used for irrigation, which is also salt-free, and the features of the microclimate of the area of production permit cultivation of these indigenous varieties which produce fruit which gives a particular taste to the paprika obtained from them.

To the taste of the variety is added that of the smoking, a system of drying related to the climatic features of the area, where sun-drying is not possible, and which gives the paprika its characteristic taste and aroma as well as very stable colour.

The use of indigenous varieties, smoke-drying and the use of stone mills in La Vera since the seventeenth-century differentiates the paprika produced there from that produced elsewhere in the world. It has its own personality, so that the paprika produced in the north of Cáceres using the system described above is known as La Vera paprika.

4.7.   Inspection body:

The inspection body for the ‘Pimentón de la Vera’ PDO satisfies standard UNE-EN 45.011.

4.8.   Labelling: Commercial labels used by each producing industry must be approved by the inspection body. They must bear the words: ‘Denominación de Origin Protegida “Pimentón de la Vera”’.

All La Vera paprika certified as having a Protected Designation of Origin put up for consumption must be identified by the logo registered and owned by the Regulatory Board and the numbered secondary label — otherwise it may not be sold. It must be impossible to reuse the numbered secondary label.

4.9.   National requirements:

(1)  European Commission, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, Agricultural Product Quality Policy, B-1049 Brussels.

(2)  At the time of milling