Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2158 of 14 December 2020 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for a name entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (‘Chabichou du Poitou’ (PDO))

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs ¹, and in particular Article 52(2) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 53(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission has examined France’s application for the approval of amendments to the product specification for the protected designation of origin ‘Chabichou du Poitou’, registered under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 ², as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 159/2009 ³.

• (2) By letter of 4 December 2018, the French authorities notified the Commission that transitional periods under Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, for a limited duration of 2 to 5 years, had been granted to operators established on their territory who meet the conditions laid down in that Article under the Order of 7 November 2018 amending the product specification for the protected designation of origin ‘Chabichou du Poitou’, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic ⁴ on 14 November 2018. By letter of 28 January 2020, the same authorities submitted the text of a new Order of 24 December 2019, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic ⁵ on 10 January 2020, which amends the Order of 7 November 2018 and the names of the operators covered by the transitional period. The list of operators is appended to the specification. The operators, who had been legally marketing ‘Chabichou du Poitou’ continuously for at least 5 years prior to submission of the application, lodged an objection during the national opposition procedure. Two operators objected to the following provision under the heading ‘Method of production’: ‘Pre-drainage of the curds is prohibited.’ Two operators objected to the following provision under the heading ‘Description of product’: ‘“Chabichou du Poitou” is made exclusively from [whole] raw [goat’s] milk.’ and the following provision under the heading ‘Method of production’: ‘The milk used is raw goat’s milk.’ 100 operators objected to the following provision under the heading ‘Method of production’: ‘At least 75 % of the goats’ total annual feed must come from the geographical area, i.e. 825 kilograms of dry matter per goat per year.’ 18 operators objected to the following provision under the heading ‘Method of production’: ‘The feed comprises a minimum of 55 % fodder, i.e. 605 kilograms of dry matter per goat per year.’ 86 operators objected to the following provisions under the heading ‘Method of production’: ‘The supplementary ration contains at least 150 kilograms or 30 % of cereals and/or oilseeds and/or protein crops from the geographical area.’, ‘The annual amount of feed per goat contains at least 200 kilograms of dry matter in the form of lucerne or legumes from the geographical area.’, and ‘The fodder is produced entirely in the geographical area.’

• (3) Since the amendments in question are not minor within the meaning of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, the Commission published the amendment application in the Official Journal of the European Union ⁶ as required by Article 50(2)(a) of that Regulation.

• (4) As no statement of opposition under Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 has been received by the Commission, the amendments to the specification should be approved,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The amendments to the product specification published in the Official Journal of the European Union regarding the name ‘Chabichou du Poitou’ (PDO) are hereby approved.

Article 2

The protection provided under Article 1 is subject to the transitional period granted by France under Article 15(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 to operators meeting the conditions laid down in that Article, pursuant to the Orders of 7 November 2018 and 24 December 2019 amending the specification for the protected designation of origin ‘Chabichou du Poitou’, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic on 14 November 2018 and 10 January 2020, respectively.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 14 December 2020.

For the Commission,

On behalf of the President,

Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI

Member of the Commission