C 281/12 EN Official Journal of the European Union 26.8.2015 Publication of an amendment 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 (2015/C 281/09) 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). APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF PROTECTED DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN/PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH IS NOT MINOR Application for approval of an amendment in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 ‘EICHSFELDER FELDGIEKER’/‘EICHSFELDER FELDKIEKER’ EU No: DE-PGI-0105-01281 – 21.11.2014 PDO ( ) PGI ( X ) 1. Applicant group and legitimate interest Name: Fleischer-Innung Nordthüringen Address: Lutherstraße 7, 37327 Leinefelde-Worbis Legitimate interest: The Fleischer-Innung Nordthüringen (North Thuringia Butchers' Guild) has a membership of 39 butchery busi­ nesses and represents 90 % of ‘Eichsfelder Feldg(k)ieker’ producers in the part of the Eichsfeld that lies in Thuringia, which accounts for a large part of the defined geographical area. 2. Member State or Third Country Germany 3. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment(s) — Name of product — Description of product — Geographical area — Proof of origin — Method of production — Link with the geographical area — Labelling — Other (inspection bodies) 4. Type of amendment(s) — Amendment to product specification of a registered PDO or PGI not to be qualified as minor in accord­ ance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. — Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI for which a Single Document (or equiva­ lent) has not been published not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1. 26.8.2015 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 281/13 5. Amendment(s) 5.1. Cuts of meat – meat Throughout the text, the words ‘cuts of meat’ are to be replaced by the word ‘meat’. Replacement of the words ‘cuts of meat/pork’ with the word ‘meat’ is not a substantive amendment. It merely serves to prevent the miscon­ ception that the meat used has to be cut in a specific way, for this is not the case and would be pointless in the context of sausage-making. Further amendments to individual sections, in each case referring to the numbered heading in the Single Document: 5.2. amending point 3.2 of the Single Document, ‘Description of product’: Under the heading ‘Chemical properties’, the specification of the fat content (‘not more than approx. 35 % in the matured product’) is to be deleted. Justification: The maximum fat content requirement as currently set out in the specification (35 %) is not in line with the bona fide and established practices of producers in the area covered by the Fleischer-Innung Nordthüringen. It is also objectively justified to omit specification of the fat content altogether, as the relative fat content increases as the product dries and fat content is generally not a measure of quality in the case of long-maturing raw saus­ ages. This does not have any adverse effects either on the product's characteristic objective properties or on its appearance. 5.3. Amending point 5 of the Single Document, ‘Link with the geographical area’ Under ‘Objective properties’ in point 5.2 ‘Specificity of the product’, the following paragraph: The producers of ‘Eichsfelder Feldgieker’ either slaughter their own animals or source carcases – generally custom slaughtered – from the regional slaughterhouse in Heiligenstadt. This has a derogation and a list of processing plants that has been confirmed by the competent veterinary authority. is to be replaced by the following paragraph: The meat used to produce ‘Eichsfelder Feldgieker’ comes exclusively from slaughterhouses which are licensed to deliver warm meat. Justification: This means that the meat no longer has to come only from the slaughterhouse in Heiligenstadt, and the slaughter­ houses no longer have to be in the defined geographical area. The meat used to produce ‘Eichsfelder Feldgieker’ may instead come from any slaughterhouse licensed to deliver warm meat and able to meet the delivery deadlines laid down in the specification and necessary for technical reasons. 5.4. Inspection bodies: The competent inspection bodies for Lower Saxony and Hessen are to be added. In Lower Saxony: Name: Veterinär- und Verbraucherschutzamt für den Landkreis und die Stadt Göttingen Address: Walkenmühlenweg 8, 37083 Göttingen Tel.: Fax: Email: [email protected] C 281/14 EN Official Journal of the European Union 26.8.2015 Name: Landkreis Northeim, Fachbereich VII – Gesundheits- und Veterinärwesen, Verbraucherschutz Address: Medenheimer Straße 6/8, 37154 Northeim Tel.: Fax: Email: [email protected] In Hessen: Name: Regierungspräsidium Gießen, Standort Wetzlar Address: Schanzenfeldstraße 8, 35578 Wetzlar Tel.: Fax: 0641-303-2197 Email: Justification: The defined geographical area is the Eichsfeld, which is situated partly in northern Thuringia and partly in Lower Saxony and Hessen. SINGLE DOCUMENT ‘EICHSFELDER FELDGIEKER’/‘EICHSFELDER FELDKIEKER’ EU No: DE-PGI-0105-01281 – 21.11.2014 PDO ( ) PGI ( X ) 1. Name(s) ‘Eichsfelder Feldgieker’/‘Eichsfelder Feldkieker’ 2. Member State or Third Country Germany 3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff 3.1. Type of product Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.) 3.2. Description of product to which the name in 1 applies Sliceable raw sausage with a typical, slightly acidic taste. Made from pork with the typical seasonings (essential are: salt and pepper, black or white, often coriander), stuffed into sausage casings, bladder-shaped (calf's bladder, linen bag, protein casing). High-quality, firm meat from pigs with an extended fattening period and a slaughter weight of at least 130g k is used. The meat is from selected meat parts (muscle, thighs, back; as fat, only firm belly and back fat). After slaugh­ tering, the pork must still be warm when production begins. ‘Warm meat processing’ means that the non- refrigerated meat must be transported no more than two hours, and processed no more than four hours, after slaughter. Chemical properties: — meat protein free of fibrous protein: not less than 15 %, — loss of raw material on maturing: not less than 33 % 26.8.2015 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 281/15 Physical properties — air-dried, sliceable, — careful maturing in a controlled environment, the duration of maturing depending on the dimensions of the casing, — climate chambers containing flora cultivated over a number of decades; in the case of new climate chambers, the flora is introduced with the pre-matured product. — Size: diameter: 8-15 cm; length: 15-30 cm; pre-sliced product: casings with a diameter of not less than 65 mm. — Appearance: raw sausage, firm enough to cut, normally pear-shaped, having a cut surface with a bright red colour, uniformly grained with pieces of fatty meat and lean meat. Organoleptic characteristics: — select, aromatic taste nuances typical of this type of product, yielding to the bite. 3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only) Certain requirements apply to the quality of the meat used for ‘Eichsfelder Feldgieker’. High-quality, firm meat that can come only from pigs with as high a slaughter weight as possible (at least 130 kg) is used. For these high slaughter weights, crosses of native breeds with good stress resistance are used (e.g. Deutsches Landschwein, Deutsches Edelschwein and sometimes hogs of other breeds, though not of the Pietrain breed (susceptible to stress)). All parts separated from the carcass, including the best cuts, are used for this speciality sausage product. 3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area The entire production process, from the selection of suitable raw materials to the maturing of the sausage, must take place in the defined geographical area. 3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to — 3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to — 4. Concise definition of the geographical area The Eichsfeld is a region of central Germany. It lies within the borders of several federal states. These include: — in Thuringia: the entire Eichsfeld district; in Unstrut-Hainich district only Dünwald, Anrode, Katharinenberg and Heyerode municipalities and the administrative community of Hildebrandshausen/Lengenfeld unterm Stein, — in Lower Saxony: in Göttingen rural district the Gieboldehausen municipalities group, Duderstadt municipality and, in the Radolfshausen municipalities group, only the Seeburg and Seulingen municipalities; in Northeim rural district only Katlenburg-Lindau municipality, — in Hessen: in Werra-Meissner district only Neuseesen and Werleshausen in Witzenhausen municipality. 5. Link with the geographical area Specificity of the geographical area: The Eichsfeld is a historical region in south-eastern Lower Saxony and north-western Thuringia. It differs consider­ ably from the regions surrounding it on account of its specific soil characteristics and climate (Wüstefeld,