C 77/2EN Official Journal of the European Communities 17.3.2000

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

(2000/C 77/02) This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of the abovementioned Regulation. Any objection to this application must be submitted via the competent authority in the Member State concerned 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.

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2081/92

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION: ARTICLE 5

PDO ( ) PGI (x) National application No: 5/99

1. Responsible department in the Member State:

Name: Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali

Address: Via XX Settembre, 20, I-00187 Roma

Tel.: 06-481 99 68

Fax: 06-42 01 31 26

2. Applicant group:

2.1. Name: Solagri società cooperativa a responsabilità limitata

2.2. Address: Via A. Balsamo, 12, I-80065 Sant’Angelo (Napoli)

Place of operations: Via S. Martino, 10, I-80065 Sant’Angelo (Napoli)

2.3. Composition: 150 producer members (Articles of Association No 19318/A registered on 17 October 1994)

3. Typ of product: (Citrus Limon L. Burman) ‘Ovale di Sorrento’, also known as ‘Limone di Massa Lubrense’ or ‘Limone massese’ — Class 1.6

4. Specification:

(Summary of requirements under Article 4(2)):

4.1. Name: Limone di Sorrento

4.2. Description: Limone di Sorrento must have the following characteristics:

— form: Elliptical, symmetrical, slightly prominent pedicle lobe with an average-sized base;

— size: medium to medium-large, weighing notless than 85 g; lemons weighing less than 85 g but having the other characteristics described herein may be used for processing;

— peduncle: average thickness and length;

— attachment to peduncle: strong; 17.3.2000EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 77/3

— apical nipple: present;

— apical groove: none;

— residual styles: none;

— colour of rind: lemon-yellow over more than 50 % of surface;

— rind (flavedo and albedo): average thickness;

— flavedo: rich in essential oils, strong flavour and perfurme;

— carpel: round, medium and semi-full;

— flesh: straw-yellow in colour, average texture;

— juice: straw-yellow in colour, aboundant (yield not less han 30 %) and high acidity (not less than 3,5 g/100 ml).

4.3 Geograpcial area: Sorrento peninsula (municipalities of Vico Equense, Meta, Piano di Sorrento, Sant’Agnello, Sorrento and Massa Lubrense) and Island of Capri (municipalities of Capri and Anacapri).

4.4. Proof of origin: Lemons were grown in ancient times, as confirmed by the writings of certain authors of antiquity:

— Theophrastus of Eresos (Lesbos) (372-287 BC) in his two works ‘Inquiry into Plants’ and ‘Growth of Plants’,

— Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil) (70-19 BC) in Book II of the Georgics;

— Pliny the Elder (born in AD 23 and died in AD 79 in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius) in his ‘Naturalis Historia’.

There have been lemons in the provine of Naples since ancient times, as shown by paintings and mosaics unearthed in Pompeii and Herculaneum, both of which were destroyed when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The fact that lemons were cultivated in the area around Naples from the first century BC to the first century AD may be deduced in various ways:

— the very frequent depictions of lemons in mosaics and paintings found in excavations, showing how common they were;

— flowering several times a year and thus producing fruit of slightly different shapes, the lemon’s polymorphism is evident in the works found;

— the sense of freshness of the fruit depicted in the paintings and mosaics could only be achieved by using freshly harvested, i.e. locally grown, fruit as models.

It is easy to assume that lemons were cultivated on the Sorrento peninsula in that period given the short distance from Sorrento to Pompeii (about 30 km) and the proven existence of significant Roman settlements dating from the same period as Pompeii and Herculaneum. C 77/4EN Official Journal of the European Communities 17.3.2000

Lemons continued to be cultivated down the centuries in the Neapolitan area and Sorrento in particular, as shown by various writers: Bertagnolli refers to citrus orchards in the Naples countryside during the Norman period (10th century); Torquato Tasso (born in Sorrento in 1544) refers to lemons flowering several times a year in connection with the marvellous garden of Armida in ‘Gerusalemme Liberata’; Giovanni Pontano (1429-1503) and Giambattista Della Porta (1535-1615) say how good the inhabitants of Sorrento were at growing lemons. There are many other references to lemon-growing in later periods, right down to the present day (P. Bonaventura da Sorrento, Can. Iovino, Jesuit Archives in Rome, land registers and notarial acts and many documents concerning lemons exported throughout the world from 800 on).

4.5 Method of production: The lemons must be grown by the traditional cultivaltion method typical in the area. The trellises, planting distances and pruning systems in lemon orchards described here are traditional in the region. The trees are grown so that they branch at the top, under a suitable system of cover. The regional technical bodies may permit other cultivation methods, provided that they satisfy the quality requirements described in point 4.2.

Traditionally the plants are grown under wooden trellises, preferably made of chestnut (no less than 3 m high) or shaded by other types of plant, using protective covers in certain seasons to protect them from the weather and to ensure staggered ripening of the fruit.

A maximum of 850 plants may be planted per hectare.

The fruit is harvested from 1 February to 31 October, the trees blossoming four times a year, when it satisfies the quality criteria referred to in point 4.2 and in line with market requirements: However, depending on the weather conditions prevailing in any particular year, the President of the Campania Region may issue a decree altering the dates of harvest.

The fruit must be harvested by hand. It must not come into direct contact with the ground.

Lemon orchards may comprise up to 15 % of other varieties.

To qualify for protected status, a maximum of 35 tonnes of lemons must be produced per hectare in single or mixed cropping (in the latter case, this is a weighted output). The harvested lemons must be sound and free of parasites in accordance with the relevant provisions.

Container capable of protecting the fruit from damage must be used for transport to collection centres.

The geographical name ‘Sorrento’ may be used in the list of ingredients of products processed from the lemons, provided that:

1. only lemons satisfying the requirements of these specifications are used to prepare the product;

2. the exact ratio, by weight, between the quantity of ‘Limone di Sorrento PGI’ lemons used and the quantity of processed product obtained is shown;

3. the lemons are processed and/or prepared solely in the municipalities referred to in point 4.3,

4. receipts and entries in official documents are available to show that ‘Limone di Sorrento PGI’ lemons purchased from producers entered in the official register have been used. 17.3.2000EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 77/5

4.6 Link: Although there is no doubt that citrus fruit has been grown on the Sorrento peninsula since ancient times, the region’s landscape changed profoundly from the middle of the 18th century on as a result of the cultivation of citrus fruit generally and of lemons in particular, after the mulberry-growing industry, then widespread, was badly hit by competition from imports of silworm cocoons from China and Japan. The change of crop (encouraged by tax concessions) in that period had far-reaching effects on the landscape. The characteristic terraces developed, retaining structures and new road links were constructed and aqueducts were improved. The need to protect the plants from bad weather in winter also led to the widespread use of straw matting (‘pagliarella’) held together by strips of chestnut wood and the construction of high trellises made of chestnut poles. Chestnut woods accordingly replaced the alders once growing on the hills around the Sorrento plain. Thus moulded by human activity, the agricultural landscape took on the appearance it possesses today.

4.7 Inspection body:

Name: IS.ME.CERT (Istituto Mediterraneo per la certificazione dei prodotti e dei processi agroalimentari — Mediterranean Institute for Certification of Food Products and Processes), c/o Assessorato Agricoltura Regione Campania (Campania Regional Department of Agriculture)

Address: Centro direzionale di Napoli, Isola A6

4.8 Labelling: Fruit qualifiying for the PGI ‘Limone di Sorrento’ must be released for consumption as follows:

— the product must be put up for sale in rigid containers made for the purpose of a minimum capacity of 0,5 kg and a maximum capacity of 15 kg. The containers must be made of cardboard or other recyclable material of vegetable origin allowed under Community law. The PGI-marked packaging or the labels affixed thereto must display the following in clear, legible lettering of uniform size:

— ‘Limone di Sorrento’ and ‘Indicazione Geografica Protetta’ (or the abbreviation ‘IGP’),

— the name, business name and address of the packager or producer,

— the quantity of product the packaging actually contains, expressed in accordance with the rules in force,

— the special graphic symbol or logo must also be shown, together with the protected geographical indication. The symbol comprises three lemons with their leaves: two of the lemons are small and placed slightly to one side and one is large. The centre of the large lemon depicts the Sorrento coastline as far as Punto Scutolo. The landscape is Pantonefi green (CV 360), the leaves are Pantonefi green (CV 362), the two small lemons and the section containing the words ‘Limone di Sorrento’ are Pantonefi Process Yellow, the sea is Pantonefi Blue (284 CV) and the words ‘Limone di Sorrento’ are black;

— the geographical name ‘Sorrento’ may be used in the list of ingredients of products processed from the lemons, provided that those ingredients meet the conditions referred to in point 4.5.

4.9 National requirements: —

EC No: IT/00098/99.06.03.

Date of receipt of the full application: 1. December 1999.