Publication of an Application for Approval of a Minor
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24.2.2018 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 71/31 OTHER ACTS EUROPEAN COMMISSION Publication of an application for approval of a minor amendment in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2018/C 71/07) The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1). APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A MINOR AMENDMENT Application for approval of a minor amendment in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) ‘KIWI LATINA’ EU No: PGI-IT-0295-AM01 — 24.10.2017 PDO ( ) PGI ( X ) TSG ( ) 1. Applicant group and legitimate interest Consorzio di Tutela Kiwi di Latina IGP Address: Via Carducci 7 04100 Latina LT ITALIA Email address: [email protected] This protection association is entitled to submit an amendment application under Article 13(1) of Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy Decree No 12511 of 14 October 2013. 2. Member State or Third Country Italy 3. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment(s) — Description of product — Proof of origin — Method of production — Link — Labelling — Other [layout changes and corrections, inspection body, updating of references to legislation] 4. Type of amendment(s) — Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, that requires no amendment to the published single document — Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, that requires an amendment to the published single document (1) OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17. (2) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1. C 71/32 EN Official Journal of the European Union 24.2.2018 — Amendment to product specification of registered PDO or PGI to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, for which a single document (or equivalent) has not been published. — Amendment to product specification of registered TSG to be qualified as minor in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 5. Amendment(s) Proof of origin (Article 4 of the product specification) 1. The following sentence: ‘The higher total solar radiation and absence or virtual absence of early frosts allow the harvest to be held off until the middle 10 days of November and the fruit to reach a minimum sugar content of 6,5-7 degrees Brix.’ has been amended as follows: ‘The higher total solar radiation and absence or virtual absence of early frosts allow the harvest to be held off until the middle 10 d ays of November or even later and the fruit to reach a minimum sugar content of 6,2 degrees Brix by the time it is picked.’ Article 2 of the product specification already states that the fruit must have a degree of maturity of at least 6,2 °Brix when it is picked. This proposed amendment consists in adapting Article 4 to state the same sugar content as Article 2 of the product specification and point 4.2 of the summary (published in OJ C 262, 31.10.2003, p. 7). To make the product specification clearer to operators and the inspection body, it is considered that the same sugar content should be referred to throughout. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 2. The following passage: ‘The link with the environment is borne out by the following requirements on growers and packers: — registration as a “Kiwi Latina” grower, — registration of all the land used to grow “Kiwi Latina”, — keeping of production and packing registers.’ has been reworded as follows: ‘The entire production process must be monitored, with inputs and outputs recorded at each stage. This pro cess — with the inspection body keeping registers of the cadastral parcels used to grow the product and of growers and packagers — coupled with the regular reporting of quantities grown to the inspection body, guarantees product traceability. All registered operators (legal entities and individuals) are subject to checks by the inspection body in accordance with the product specification and the corresponding inspection plan.’ This amendment supplements the provisions that were already in the product specification, identifying more precisely the operators in the production chain that are subject to inspection and specifying the processes in place to ensure traceability. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. Method of production (Article 5 of the product specification) 1. The following sentence has been inserted: ‘Only plants certified in accordance with the applicable legislation can be used to start new plantations.’ 24.2.2018 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 71/33 Stating that plants certified in accordance with the applicable legislation must be used to start new plantations will reduce the risk of viruses, bacteria, fungi (etc.) spreading and ensure that new plantations are started in the best possible conditions. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 2. The following passage: ‘Two plant training systems are used: — pergola, with a planting distance of 4-5 m × 4-5 m — T-bar, with a planting distance of 5 m × 3-5 m’ has been amended as follows: ‘Two plant training systems are used: — pergola — T-bar The number of plants per hectare may not be lower than 400.’ The planting distances specified for the pergola and T-bar systems have been removed and a minimum number of plants per hectare — matching the minimum density currently established in the product specification (5 × 5) — inserted in their place. The reason for removing the references to planting distances is that it is becoming increasingly common to use closer inter-row and inter-plant spacing, giving a density of up to 1 600 plants per hectare. Thanks to new growing techniques, in which the fruit-bearing vines are kept much shorter than in the past, increasing the number of plants per hectare does not in any way impair the fruit’s organoleptic qualities. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 3. The following sentence: ‘Depending on the type of land, the space between rows is cultivated, with weeds being removed from along the rows themselves, or else covered with grass, which must be cut regularly.’ has been amended as follows: ‘The land is either tilled and/or weeded, or else covered with grass, which must be cut regularly.’ The rewording of this passage leaves growers free to manage their land as they deem appropriate. The term ‘tilled’ is closer to the farming techniques involved both when grass cover is used and when other soil man agement techniques are applied. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 4. The following sentence: ‘The natural water supply is supplemented by irrigation (sprinkling or misting) under the mass of foliage.’ has been amended as follows: ‘The natural water supply is supplemented with irrigation, ensuring that the crop receives the right amount of water.’ 5. The following sentence has been deleted: ‘The irrigation volume ranges from 6 000 m3 to 8 000 m3 per hectare per year.’ It has been decided to remove the references to irrigation techniques and volumes from points 7 and 8, instead stating that irrigation is to be carried out solely to give the crop the right amount of water for its normal physiological development. C 71/34 EN Official Journal of the European Union 24.2.2018 The new wording allows growers to tailor irrigation to the amount of water that the crop actually needs. This can therefore be classed as a minor amendment pursuant to Article 53(2)(a)-(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. 6. The following passage: ‘The fruit is harvested peduncle-free in late October and early November, at which point it has a Brix value of 6,2 ° and its firmness (measured using an 8 mm probe) is not less than 6 kg.’ has been amended as follows: ‘The fruit is harvested peduncle-free when it has a Brix value of 6,2 ° and its firmness (measured using an 8 mm probe) is not less than 6 kg.’ It has been decided to remove the reference to when harvesting takes place, since, as Article 4 of the product specification states, aspects of the climate in the production area — such as higher solar radiation and the absence or virtual absence of early frosts — allow the harvest to be held off until the middle 10 days of November or even later. This change does not affect the product characteristics: the product specification guarantees that the fruit is mature enough at harvest by requiring it to meet a specified Brix value. An inconsistency within the product specification has also been corrected by bringing the Brix value into line with the one specified in Article 2.