ANNEX

‘ TIROLER SPECK ’

EU No: PGI-AT-02162 — 8.8.2016

PDO ( )

PGI (X)

1.   Name(s)

‘Tiroler Speck’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Austria

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

Tiroler Speck PGI is a traditionally artisanal cured pork product made from boneless leg, loin, belly, shoulder or neck, which is then dry-salted, seasoned with a particular blend of spices including at least juniper, black pepper and garlic, cured, cold smoked according to a region-specific process using at least 50 % beech or ash wood, and air dried. The outer colour is dark brown, and the cut surface is reddish with a white layer of fat. The smell is intensely and aromatically spicy with clear mature notes and a smoky fragrance. The taste is slightly spicy, passing from clear and recognisable smoky notes to a full meaty flavour and rounded off with a recognisable saltiness.

Physico-chemical and microbiological properties:

Water/protein ratio: max. 1,7 (tolerance + 0,2)

Salt content (NaCl): max. 5,0 % (tolerance + 1,5 % [centre] + 2,0 % [edge])

Tiroler Speck is made exclusively in the defined geographical area and is available, in its final form, either vacuum-packed or packaged in a controlled atmosphere, and either unsliced, in sections or in slices.

3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The cuts of meat used for Tiroler Speck PGI originate in the European Union and comprise the leg with rind, with or without topside, loin with rind, belly with rind (with or without soft bones), shoulder clod with rind, and neck without rind, all with bones removed and cut in accordance with good manufacturing practice.

3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

All production steps (from salting to the final product) take place in the defined geographical area.

3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

Tiroler Speck PGI must be sliced by a specialist trained in the production of Tiroler Speck PGI, known as a ‘ Tiroler Speckmeister ’, or be sliced under his or her supervision. During slicing, each finished batch must be given a sensory check to ensure there are no unwanted deviations in colour or taste. If there are defects (such as putrefaction, colour defects or the undesirable formation of a dry edge) immediate steps must be taken to adjust the control parameters (such as temperature, humidity or the duration of each step in the process) for the batches or units still in production. To enable this quality assurance to happen promptly, the activities for the production of packaged units of Tiroler Speck PGI are performed exclusively within the production holding or the group of holdings (i.e. a business holding with multiple sites, each performing individual stages of the production of Tiroler Speck PGI, or multiple postal addresses in the same district).

In order to avoid any detrimental effects from oxidation or drying out, or from microbiological spoilage due to mould growth, and thereby to avoid a loss of quality, the time between slicing and packaging it must be kept short, which is why packaging of Tiroler Speck PGI either unsliced, in sections or in slices, vacuum-packed or in a controlled atmosphere, must take place within the defined geographical area. However, if, due to specific arrangements, a period of storage is required before slicing begins, this must take place only in vacuum packaging or in a controlled atmosphere (initial packaging) to avoid loss of quality from further drying out or from microbiological spoilage due to mould growth. Tiroler Speck PGI is then either cut into pieces for domestic use or removed from the rind, prepared and cut into slices or made ‘kitchen-ready’, and either vacuum-packed or packaged in a controlled atmosphere (final packaging).

Tiroler Speck PGI can be sold unsliced to establishments within the food retail sector, provided that it is sliced in the presence of the purchaser and that this share of unsliced Tiroler Speck PGI does not exceed 10 % of the corresponding day's batch, and that, when checked as part of the slicing process (into sections, slices, cubes etc.), the remaining amount does not show any signs that the batch contains defects such as to suggest that the Speck to be sold unsliced is defective.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

On every unit which is packaged and ready for sale, the holding number, a batch identifier in the form of a batch number or date, and the name of the protected geographical indication, ‘Tiroler Speck’, must be featured in a prominent place and in a legible and indelible manner. The name of the protected geographical indication, ‘Tiroler Speck’, may not be translated into another language.

The term ‘protected geographical indication’ and/or the abbreviation ‘PGI’ must immediately follow the name of the protected geographical indication, ‘Tiroler Speck’, and may also appear in a common language other than German, either instead of or as well as the German version.

Descriptive terms for the product, including the cut of meat used (‘bacon’, ‘loin Speck’, ‘belly Speck’; or ‘made from ham’, ‘made from loin pork’, ‘made from belly pork’), may also be used in the common language of the country in which the product is being marketed. However, these terms must be clearly separated from the protected geographical indication ‘Tiroler Speck’. This can be achieved by separating the terms over different lines, although sufficient line spacing must be maintained. On ‘technical labelling’, however, it may not be possible to separate the two terms by line due to space restrictions.

Translations of references to the region of Tyrol as the place of origin must not be added to the descriptive terms for the product.

The producer's region within the defined geographical area may also be given, but must be separate from the protected geographical indication ‘Tiroler Speck’ and the term ‘protected geographical indication’ and/or the abbreviation ‘PGI’.

Names, business names and private labels may also be displayed, provided that the resulting packaging is not misleading.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

Province of Tyrol

5.   Link with the geographical area

In Tyrol's mountainous landscape, which is characterised by farmland, the production of Speck as a means to preserve fresh meat has been developed and refined across many generations. Knowledge of the special recipe of spices and the traditional production method for Tiroler Speck was passed down by each generation of farmers to their children. This tradition, handed down from person to person, developed into a generally accepted standard for today's commercial Tiroler Speck production. The drying process in the clean Tyrolean mountain air, the gentle smoking process using specific spice mixes, and the use of beech or ash wood to create the smoke — all of which are necessary components of the production process — constitute a special, region-specific procedure which lends Tiroler Speck its characteristic dark brown appearance. With the exception of the ‘ Schopfspeck ’ [neck Speck], the cut surfaces exhibit a white fat cover and the meat is a bold red colour, which darkens towards the meat side. The unmistakeable characteristics of this product are its aromatically spicy fragrance with recognisable mature notes and its lightly spiced flavour with smoky and salty notes, all the while underpinned by the aroma of the pork. Within this broader picture, regional variations and subtle changes to the organoleptic properties are common, depending on the cultural peculiarities that have taken root in the corresponding regions and valleys of the defined geographical area. Accordingly, certain aspects of the product's typical nature, such as the taste profile or the hints of smoked wood, take on particular regional characteristics without influencing or altering the overall identity of Tiroler Speck PGI.

The traditional production method that has developed in the geographical area is based on the expertise of the producers, which has been passed down over the centuries.

The knowledge and artisanal tradition of the Tiroler Speckmeister ensure that the high quality of the product is preserved. The Tiroler Speckmeister's centuries of practical experience regarding the effects that the raw materials and climatic conditions have on the quality of the product (including knowledge of disruptive influencing factors, the causes of abnormalities, the constantly changing properties of the raw materials and environmental factors and the reciprocal effects of the production parameters) play an essential role in achieving the high standard of quality of the final product. The duration of the air-drying process is therefore measured by the Tiroler Speckmeister based on the current climatic conditions in the region and the size of the cut of meat. This is to ensure a careful drying process and a product of unimpaired quality with all its characteristic features (dark brown exterior colour, medium-firm to firm texture, juniper flavour with recognisable salty notes and a smoky fragrance).

The supervision of the production process by the Tiroler Speckmeister, who receives regular further specialist training, prevents any detrimental effects on the product and any loss of quality.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(Article 6(1), second subparagraph, of the Regulation)

https://www.patentamt.at/herkunftsangaben/tirolerspeck/