Quality reform and promotion: success of the Italian system
"I am sure that without the work of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF) with the qualified personnel of the relevant directorates and of Paolo De Castro with his office whose value is also confirmed on this occasion, it would not have been possible to obtain a political agreement on such a large package of amendment proposals which considerably improve the European Commission's proposal. We would like to underline our profound belief that the strategy adopted represents an example of successful "good practices" on community dossiers. All this with the constant and qualified collaboration of our Permanent Representation in Brussels which has never failed to provide its technical-political support. We are convinced that such a "modus-operandi" can be repeated more and more often in the future until it becomes the operational normality of our Government" declared Pietro D'Angeli, President of ASSICA.
"We couldn't be more satisfied. All ISIT objectives were achieved. The result goes beyond all expectations, taking into account the difficulties of a negotiation which saw, especially in the Council, the majority of Member States hostile to the EU Geographical Indications system. And Paolo De Castro has confirmed, once again, that he is one of the best negotiators at European level. In my opinion, the political agreement confirms not only the political vision of GIs as one of the pillars of agri-food development of the European Union but also a system without equal in the world. Considering that the Consortia, especially the Italian ones, represent the development engine of the GIs, I consider it an extraordinary result to have maintained - in the midst of such different interests and sensitivities - not only the "status quo" with regards to their composition, representativeness and legal framework but also more and better responsibilities as proposed by the European Parliament. We are also particularly satisfied with the national exemption on the origin of animal feed which represented one of the priorities for the livestock supply chain, essential to guarantee the specificity of our Made in Italy products. Not to mention the countless further improvements such as, just to name a few, the new rules on GIs when used as ingredients, with the possibility for Member States to further strengthen the new provisions through an authorization procedure at national level and ex-officio protection also in the internet domain system, with an immediate "geoblocking" system of all illicit content" continued Lorenzo Beretta, President of ISIT.
"With regards to the criteria of EU funds for the promotion of EU agri-food products - concluded Francesco Pizzagalli, President of IVSI - the work of MASAF, in collaboration with other Member States, has ensured that an approach aimed at avoid preconceived discrimination between products, proactive and support for all productions that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. A formula of guaranteed success for all the Member States of the Union and for the European agri-food heritage which must be defended and helped to overcome the unexpected and burdensome international dynamics more than ever in this period. The EU promotion policy has been a real success when it comes to supporting the competitiveness of EU agri-food products and, thanks to yesterday's result, it will continue to be so for all sectors at least also during 2024".
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