Qualitalia, the Customs project to “certify” the agri-food sector
Thirty billion. Both could recover the public coffers from the quality certification of the Monopoly Agency. The project has been ready for some time, but stalled at the Treasury before the establishment of Qualitalia, a public subsidiary specialized in issuing a seal of quality under the control of the Customs and Monopolies Agency. Even in spite of the fact that the draft decree for the birth of the in-house company was already ready as imagined by the former deputy director of the Agency, Alessandro Canali, a lawyer specializing in international commercial law, during the management of the former number one, Marcellus Minenna.
Objective: to certify Made in Italy
Now with the advance of insect-based flours and the prospect of synthetic meat and fish, supported in Brussels, the project could become topical again. It all depends on how the government of Giorgia Meloni will decide to defend Made in Italy productions, from which Italian sounding steals about 80 billion in turnover every year.
“The Qualitalia project was born with the aim of offering a traceable quality mark on Italian products. It envisages an App with which the final consumer can then verify the origin of what he is buying ”explains Canali. A blockchain-style solution that completely eliminates the Italian sounding issue, i.e. the arbitrary use of the Made in Italy brand on goods that are not produced in our country.
The case of over seven tons of Genoese pesto seized in the port of Genoa in the wake of a check by the inspectors of the Ministry of Health it can be useful to understand the extent of the problem. Produced by Rana Meal Solutions, a company of the Giovanni Rana group based in Chicago, they were aimed at the French and Spanish markets. But for the inspectors, the label with the reference to Italian basil is not compatible with the origin of the product. Hence the ban on entry to the Kirkland pesto market.
The pilot project
To get to the heart of the plan, the Agency had also already launched a pilot project. The protagonist is the Italian wine which is highly appreciated and quoted in the world. In particular, the plan had involved the Consortium of Barolo to test the feasibility and effectiveness of the Qualitalia label under the control of Customs.
The next step was to involve the Vermouth piemontese victim of competition from multinational brands that have nothing Italian about them. Progressively then the experimentation was foreseen on Parmesan Cheese. With a precise objective: to allow an upward repositioning of prices for all Italian agri-food production. The issue is no small one given that the agri-food industry is worth 4% of the GDP. But it exceeds 10% if we consider the entire food chain. In 2021 agriculture, forestry and fishing achieved a turnover of more than 64 billion with around 35 billion in terms of added value.
Contacts with Amazon and the American Embassy
With this action plan, the Agency had also contacted Amazon to test an online sales solution certified by Customs. Furthermore, a discussion had also been started with the American embassy to experiment with the brand on exports to the United States. But then the plan stopped with the departure of Canali who had outlined the guidelines of Qualitalia in the wake of the conflicts with Minenna. However, the problems of Italian producers remain on the table. And above all the great business of Italian sounding in food production which damages our country in terms of turnover and image.