Unfair milk pricing practices. This is the accusation that pushed Coldiretti to denounce Lactalis, the French multinational owner of the Parmalat, Locatelli, Invernizzi, Galbani, Cadermartori and Nuova Castelli brands. Ettore Prandini, the president of the agricultural organization, requested the intervention of the Central Inspectorate for the protection of quality and the repression of fraud in agri-food products (Icqrf), denouncing the “violation of the contract on the price of milk”. Lactalis, according to the dossier collected by Coldiretti, has «unilaterally modified the contract with the farmers supplying milk by decreasing the recognized prices and also introducing a new index linked among other things to the prices of European milk not agreed upon and strongly penalizing Italian producers who have to face an unsustainable increase of costs”.
Now it will be up to the inspectors to ascertain the alleged violation. Coldiretti requests the application of the legislative decree implementing the EU Directive on unfair commercial practices which provides, among other things, for the end of payments not connected to sales up to strictly written contracts, but also that the prices recognized to farmers and breeders are not lower than production costs. “Only in this way – explains Prandini – can Italian farms and the breeders’ commitment to the sustainability and quality of national production be saved. Defending Italian livestock farming also means supporting a system made up of animals, meadows for fodder and above all people committed to fighting depopulation and degradation even in difficult areas.”
The 25 thousand Italian dairy farms – according to the agricultural organization – produce 125 million quintals a year, around 80% of the requirement, while there are 55 Italian protected designation of origin (PDO/PGI) cheeses protected by the Union European. According to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty «the weakness of the Italian system is a problem. Over the years, it has allowed undoubtedly aggressive actions to our production model to reveal a weakness. Our system needs to be reorganized, we have important companies, but not at the level of some foreign companies in economic terms. Milk is a strategic food and must be protected within a system. A path that must also be supported in fiscal terms.”