Agri-food report CFS 2014 - Corpo Forestale dello Stato

Transcription

AGRI-FOOD AND AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL
DEFENCE
2014 REPORT
ITALIAN FORESTRY CORPS
2014 Agri-food defence Report
By Chief Commissioner Lando Desiati
2
Italian Forestry Corps
ITALIAN FORESTRY CORPS
Inspector-General
Service I – Division 2
NAF – Agri-food and Forestry Unit
CONTENTS
1
Analysis
1.a
1.b
1.c
1.d
1.e
1.f
The geography of food between old and new paradigms
Food safety
Quality of agricultural and food products
Counterfeit food and the prevention of food piracy
The Italian Forestry Corps and the agri-food counterfeiting
Major new standards of the sector for the year 2014
6
9
11
12
13
15
2
Activities and operating focus
17
2.a
2.b
2.c
2.d
17
21
25
2.i
Operating activity
Operations: the protection of food quality and the fight against fraud
GMOs: the normative panorama and activities of the Italian Forestry Corps
The protection of land and food safety:
the activities of Italian Forestry Corps in "Land of fires”
Operation "Secure hoaxes”
Cooperation with international police for the prevention of illegal food trafficking
CIVIC Project: an open window on extra virgin olive oil and on
the Parmigiano Reggiano Pdo cheese
Agreements with research institutions and universities for the activities
of forensic analysis
Memorandum of understanding with the National Anti-mafia Direction (D.N.A.)
3
Charts and tables
35
2.e
2.f
2.g
2.h
6
3
27
29
30
32
33
34
AGRI-FOOD AND AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL
DEFENCE
2014 Report
4
The value of the land of the Italian agri-food sector
“Non ha l’ottimo artista alcun concetto
c’un marmo solo in sé non circoscriva
col suo superchio, e solo a quello arriva
la man che ubbidisce all’intelletto.
[…]”.
Paraphrasing what Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) wrote about the sculpture and
marble, we can say that there is no value associated in some food or food that may regardless of the
raw materials that constitute it and, therefore, from the territory from which the latter originate.
Nevertheless in recent decades, the globalization of markets has led to an increasing
relocation of agricultural products and foodstuffs, as well as having encouraged the establishment of
real criminal trafficking of counterfeit foods, managed in many cases the so-called agromafie,
represent a damage to the national economy, for quality production of our territory, the landscape
national food and, consequently, for the citizen-consumer.
The recent case of Xilella fastidiosa, the well-known bacterium that is destroying many acres
of olive trees in the Puglia region, or the equally current emergence of so-called land of fires,
between the provinces of Naples and Caserta, are a prime example of how the quality of the food is
deeply ingrained in the environment: you can not have healthy agriculture and, above all, gainful,
able to maintain populations within its territory, if not from a healthy environment and respectful of
the values of legality and sustainability.
The best prevention, in this sense, is the maintenance of biodiversity and environmental care
of the land agroforestry, which are essential to the production of high quality foods, as well as the
constant presence of the necessary local officers, indispensable for food safety broad sense.
The operational business of the Italian Forestry Corps described in this Report 2014 and led,
in many cases, at the international level, also with the help of the Opson Interpol / Europol network,
is located in this very delicate and precious environment, to protection of national production
certificate (PDO, PGI, TSG, Bio) and, in general, the made in Italy agri-food, in order to ensure
consumers the guarantee of healthy and safe food, produced in harmony with the land and with full
respect of the values underpinning the Italian Constitution and the law.
Cesare Patrone
Capo del Corpo forestale dello Stato
5
AGRI-FOOD AND AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE,
A SERVICE TO CITIZENS
1 – ANALYSIS
1.a
THE GEOGRAPHY OF FOOD BETWEEN OLD AND NEW PARADIGMS 1
The old paradigms
Feeding is a valid parameter to evaluate the system health of a population, as it is strongly
connected with the per capita income, is directly related to health, is an expression of a culture,
habits, personal awareness of pursuit of health (Palagiano, 2011, p. 188). In the study of the
relationship between man and the environment, and in particular those affecting the health of
human groups, food takes on a special importance. The geography of food, that is, the distribution
of the different ways or possibilities of feeding by this or that part of the population, is responsible
not only for such distribution, but also of interference of various kinds that affect a human group,
and the single within this group, to feed in a certain way and in a certain amount. It is preferable to
speak of ways or possibilities for feeding rather than feeding regimes. These in fact, imply the
existence of a balance, achieved through time, between the needs and the feeding possibilities of a
population in its territory (ibid., 2011, p.188). In principle, however, we can say that the distribution
ways of feed depends, in addition to the possibilities of the environment that determines the
composition and amount of food available to the group, and the properties of the environment
climate that determines the dietary requirements of men (Sorre, 1952, pp. 189-190), especially from
the economic possibilities of the human group, family and single person (Palagiano, 2008, p. 119).
Geography of nutrition or of the food has always aroused interest not only by geographers but
also by many authoritative representatives of national and international scientific community. No
doubt it is the most current and pressing issues involving human life and society today, both in
highly developed countries and in those developing countries. In fact, the characteristics proper of
food and in particular the geographical distribution of the way or of the same ability to feed
themselves and, therefore, how and what to eat, by the population in their areas, create multiple
interference in the relationship between humans and the environment. They show also the
similarities or differences and they tend more and more to influence the development of human
groups, so that today we are seeing a strong trend towards globalization and standardization of taste,
which recently are opposing new lifestyles that make of the uniqueness and authenticity of the
products their main goal. The different behaviors resulting from the rapid and profound change
undergone by society have altered lifestyles and recorded consistently, modifying them, even on the
food traditions, under the pressure of globalization on the part of business strategies and markets.
The globalization divides the world in fragments, it filters the values through its codes, imposing
1
Rossella Belluso, Geographer at Sapienza-University of Rome.
6
universal monological norms. The changes are not just the quantity of consumption "or quality of
the food, but also the codes of behavior and the entire food system as a response of cultural and
social changes" (Warm, 1990, p. 324), of the diffusion of innovations , process of penetration of
cultural traits identified through the rules of exclusion and identity, often very clear in feeding
behavior (Douglas, 1981, p. 128).
The geographer Osvaldo Baldacci in 1954 wrote: "The recent Italian translation of a work of
Josue de Castro2, Geography of hunger (1952), draws the attention of geographers on a subject not
only of great interest but also of pressing current. It would have been preferable to repeat in
translating the original title "geopolitics", closer to the multiplicity of topics, often unrelated to the
geographic investigation strict sense" (Baldacci, 1954, p. 1). The title then already in the fifties
manifested uncompromising or implied the last conclusion de Castro found with his research:
humanity is hungry. The pages of the President lead to considerations of a methodological and
systematic type, "assumed that the work is really all geographical, in which part of the geography
fits?" (Ibid., 1954, p. 13). Always in the fifties it questioned the very important role that nutrition
was taking for years in geographical studies. In fact, Maximilien Sorre has devoted much space to
this subject in the first volume of his Fondements, emerging with a wealth of discussion and
exemplification of how this area of research interest to the geographer. This paper, from the
systematic point of view, is certainly one of the most organic still exist in the field of geography
nutrition.
The new paradigms
Eating habits are now regulated, especially in industrialized countries, consumerist, by a
number of economic factors, such as increased income, and social, primarily changes in family
structure and the increase of 'female employment, which led to a logic of standardizing dietary
pattern. A mass-consumption model that fits the needs of a global market where the nutrition chain
is now fully controlled by a few multinational companies and aggressive and that tends to
standardize food systems.
"The flavors are becoming more standardized [...] and some traditional recipes are not part of
most of our knowledge with a serious pauperization of the cultural identity of people and places"
(Brusa, 2004, p. 3).
Just the "crisis of modernity" created in the collective consciousness the need to reappropriate cultural values, because common thread of human evolution and symbol of the roots
(Dematteis, 2001), but also to recover the symbolic values and identity that each group assign to
their food system. In fact, at the same time the dissolution of the paintings of traditional life and
2
Director of the Institute of Nutrition of the University of Brazil and President of the Council of the FAO, since 1933
has turned his research to the study of food problems, especially those related to Brazil, publishing about a
fundamental work: Geografia da fome. A fome do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, Empresa Geographical "O Cruzeiro" SA,
1946, pp. 354, fig. C). In the pages of this book it is not only summed up the uninterrupted research that the student
has conducted for about twenty years, but is condensed the experience derived from the "possibility that we had, to
get in touch with specialists of the FAO and the trips that we have done on three continents by collecting
information of all kinds on the problems of hunger, "as claimed by de Castro.
7
psychological stress that goes with it, seems to be growing appreciation for those eating patterns
that recall ways of life lost. "A recovery of traditions and a reinterpretation of the system of
knowledge, which support agricultural production, are assuming great importance in the process of
preservation of the "signs of identity" of the place, just as the landing of the world economy seems
to envelop the "geometries of the global" every expression of culture (Champion, 2003).
In this context it seems important for a local system to enhance its internal resources and
specificity, at the same time opening up to the outside to build relationships over-rich and local
information and knowledge circulating globally. "In this context, the competitiveness of a region
depends on the ability to act, as well as being, different from others, to exploit its geographical
specificity, represented by tangible and intangible resources: development strategies, which in the
long term are winners , always depend crucially on the enhancement of what is present in the
territory "(Fiori, 2009, p. 85).
And therefore, the recovery and the valorization of the traditional nutrition takes on the role,
today, of a necessary condition for the re-appropriation of knowledge of the place and for the
reconstruction of its identity from the company established and not only (Barilaro, 2005, p. 163).
Today the geography of nutrition, can be declined to the study of tourism, the rediscovery of
local food traditions, can provide enhancement to the territory, environmental sustainability,
economic competitiveness and improving the health and quality of life for people, especially in
those strong tourist vocation areas but still completely untapped. nutrition is also a “fundamental
aspect in the quality of life of the population”, which becomes more and more delicate and
important consideration, both for the close connection with the health of individuals, and because
are more and more “emerging behaviors or styles life that alienate sectors of the population from a
fair and balanced relationship with food” (ISTAT, 1996, p. 9). Of course, unfortunately, as claimed
by FAO3, it has not resolved the problem of hunger4. The hope is that in a not too distant future
there are more abysmal differences between the different populations in the world and that
geography nutrition can rise even in discipline and termination of such terrible scourge.
3
The new Director General of the FAO was elected on June 26, 2011, the Brazilian Graziano da Silva. This is the
eighth DG since the largest agency of the UN was founded in Quebec City in Canada, on 16 October 1945. He
succeeds to the Senegalese Jacques Diouf, and will remain in office from 1 January 2012 until 31 July 2015.
4
The FAO says that even today about one in six people does not have enough food to have a healthy and active life.
Globally, the greatest risk to the health of individuals is represented by hunger and malnutrition even more than by
the combined action of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The main causes of hunger are endemic poverty, the
absolute lack of infrastructure for agriculture and the overexploitation of the environment, natural disasters and
conflicts. But hunger is not just about food shortages. There are hidden manifestations such as lack of
micronutrients, which exposes people to more easily contract infectious diseases, it prevents their proper mental and
physical development and reduced productivity at work, increasing the risk of premature death. Moreover, hunger
affects not only individuals but also undermines the economic potential of developing countries. Economists
estimate that every child whose physical and mental development is impaired by hunger and malnutrition has less
capacity to generate income, in the course of his life, which varies between 5 to 10%. In this regard it would be
useful to consult the data of FAO's campaign 2014 "1-Billion Hungry".
8
1.b
FOOD SAFETY
Security is one of the most important collective and individual assets of a State, which must
be able to anticipate, minimize and control events that can create different levels of risk to a
community, generating even international tensions affecting the interests of economic and energy ,
possession of water resources and mining, international terrorism, the risk of pandemics, the
imbalances in the financial markets, food resources and the risks of environmental degradation.
The action of food safety includes both aspects of the protection of the matrices that generate
foods, that those of health and quality of the products. The food system has been characterized in
recent decades by two major changes: a) increasing the distance between the sites of production and
consumption of those that caused increased attention to food storage and size of the food chain; b)
the rise of technology applied to production and food storage.
These issues pose new problems today and critical insights that require specialized
interventions and synergy to ensure a high level of food safety.
The consumer must be sure products are safe and of high quality and must be checked every
link in the food chain, from farm to fork.
For this reason a food chain effectively requires a precise and transparent traceability paths on
food production. This is achieved by identifying and tracking all flows of the production chain.
The food is a product of human activity that combines natural factors such as soil
characteristics, climate, orographic and human factors such as customs, traditions, methods of
production and experience, passion.
The market's ability to identify a quality product for the subjects of the production chain
substantial return, both in image and in economic terms.
The health and hygiene safety
The serious food crises occurred in recent years, from BSE to the discovery of dioxin in
chickens and milk and mercury in fish, etc., together with the issue of the use of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) in food production, as well to confirm that the food risk can not be
totally accepted by consumers, they have also highlighted problems in its control system to which
the European Union has tried to remedy with the enactment of some EU regulations known to
insiders as "package hygiene".
According to this "package", which came into force on 1 January 2006 (four Community
regulations - two related to the production and marketing of food Reg. 852/04 and EC Reg. 853/04
EC and two concerning mechanisms for control by the competent authorities Reg. 854/04 and EC
Reg. Ce 882/04), it is for the food business operators and feed ensure that the businesses under their
control foods or feeds satisfy the requirements of food law relevant to their activities in all stages of
production, processing and distribution, and verify that such requirements are met.
9
To ensure food safety, therefore, it is necessary to consider all aspects of the food production
chain as a continuum, starting with primary production included, through production of feed up to
the sale or supply of food to the consumer including, as each element may have a potential impact
on food safety.
Food safety always coincides with the health quality and refers to the "basic needs" of the
consumer. In the case where foods are not produced, stored and marketed in proper hygienic
conditions may pose a risk to the health of man.
Such warranty as already mentioned is compulsory by law but must be verified by the
Member State by the appropriate risk analysis tool of official control.
Member States shall enforce food law and monitor and verify that the relevant provisions by
the food business operators and feed in all stages of production, processing and distribution.
For this purpose, they shall maintain a system of official controls and other activities as
appropriate to the circumstances, including public communication on safety and risk of food and
feed safety, the surveillance of food and feed and the other monitoring activities covering all stages
of production, processing and distribution.
Member States shall also determine the measures and penalties applicable to infringements of
legislation on food and feed. The measures and penalties must be effective, proportionate and
dissuasive.
The official control takes place in company with the verification of the following points: raw
materials, ingredients, additives and all other products used in the preparation of the food; the state,
the cleanliness of facilities, equipment, tools used for preparation, storage and marketing of food;
the sanitation process, cleaning, as well as the processing industry and food processing.
The official control activities have therefore a wide range of action: to them is "subjected" the
complex operation that, through the stages of production, processing and marketing, "carries" a
product from the production field to the consumer's table.
The official control activities are characterized by a procedure consisting of systematic
actions that are carried out according to a preordained plan that defines the nature, manner and
frequency of operations (inspections, sampling, laboratory analysis of samples, test verification
tools installed by the enterprise, etc.), so as to ensure the achievement of satisfactory results.
Since 2004 the legislature has entrusted the Italian Forestry Corps, directly under the
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the competition in their activities to comply with legislation
on food safety and consumer biosafety in general.
10
1.c
QUALITY OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD PRODUCTS
The quality of an agri-food product can have different meanings depending on your point of
view; in terms of control and local regulations we mean first of all the quality as "quality
merchandise", or as of the body of the qualitative, quantitative and organoleptic that characterize
the product, and must comply with legal requirements for category under consideration.
For example, for olive's oils, relatively to the taste and to the degree of acidity, we have four
types of commercial categories and consequently four levels of quality, in a scale which starts from
the extra category up to the one with the minimum requirements, of the below which the product
can not be put on the market.
Ultimately, in this way, the quality of the food product is considered from a technical (product
category) - legal.
To complete the framework of the concept of quality, it should be noted also the brands,
which are types of certification that can be adopted by manufacturing companies to ensure the
quality of their products.
If the object of the certification is the production process at the various stages of the supply
chain, we talk about certification process: examples of this are the production methods of organic
farming, subject to European standards, or HACCP, with regard to health requirements.
If the object of the certification is the quality of the product marketed, we have the
certifications of product, corresponding to different types of trademarks that may be the trademarks
of origin, organic labels, collective brands, premium brands and trade marks.
We can therefore say that the quality of food products meet the "secondary requirements" of
the consumer, linked to the welfare of society and the modern economy.
The quality of this is the result of a combination of factors: organoleptic and nutritional
characteristics, technological characteristics (shelf life, ease of use, packaging, etc.), cultural
(traditions, sense of belonging to placed, etc.), instances of ethics - environmental.
You can certainly define, with regard to ethical and environmental factors, including quality
agricultural closely linked to the territory, considered as a fundamental factor of production and are
able to influence the reorientation of the objectives of the agricultural technicians in the direction of
meeting the choices and consumer tastes toward a diet more healthy and rewarding and, together,
the ecological compatibility related to scenic value and recreational use of the countryside.
The decree MIPAF of 1 December 2005 provides for the Italian Forestry Corps as police
deputy to the protection of food quality, as well as have defined: with regard to collective marks
with geographical indications (PDO, PGI, TSG), in specifically, the body is fully inserted between
the authorities responsible for the investigation of the violations provided for in the legislative
decree 19 November 2004 n. 297, "on the protection of geographical indications and designations
of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs". In this context, in particular, the Italian Forestry
Corps performs checks of an extraordinary nature, or related to criminal investigations.
11
1.d
COUNTERFEIT FOOD AND THE PREVENTION OF FOOD PIRACY
Counterfeiting, according to the glossary of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is the
"unauthorized representation of a trademark carried on goods identical or similar to the objects for
which the mark is registered, in order to deceive the buyer, causing believe that he is buying the
original products".
The data provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
estimates the trade in counterfeit goods in OECD countries between 2000 and 2007 as a constantly
growing phenomenon: in the space of seven years, in fact, the turnover of counterfeiting is
increased by 150% (Source: OECD, "Magnitude of counterfeiting and piracy of tangible products:
an update", update 2009 study on counterfeiting developed in 2008, "the economic impact of
counterfeiting and piracy").
As part of all productive sectors, the agri-food by itself absorbs around 16% of the entire
turnover of counterfeiting in Italy, for a total of approximately 1 billion euro (Source: Censis
processing of data from 2008 to 2010, "Dimensions, features and insights on counterfeiting. Final
report"). This study, however, considers only the amount that the Italian consumer spends on the
purchase of counterfeit products.
Taking into account, however, even the counterfeit Italian products sold abroad and the Italian
sounding phenomenon (use of labels or other symbols or colors on the packaging or figures that
evoke the Italian character of the places of origin of the raw material, recipe, the brand or the
process of transformation of products actually manufactured abroad), the estimated turnover of
counterfeiting increases to around 60 billion euro, a figure equal to about a third of the turnover of
original products (Source: Ministry Economic Development "I do not want false. The counterfeiting
food").
Counterfeiting agribusiness in our country assumes a particular importance in view of the fact
that Italy, at the international level, is one of the Countries that has the most rich and diverse
agricultural heritage, with typical products of excellence whose richness and variety are a point
food quality and economic strength.
In this regard, considering that in Italy the food industry is in second place in terms of
turnover after the engineering and plays a crucial role within the EU, accounting for 13% to total
agricultural output of Europe. Equally significant is the agri-food exports. The Italian share of world
trade amounted to several years at a figure higher than 3.5%.
The European Union has recorded more than 1,254 products with PDO, PGI and STG: of
these, with 273 (162 PDO and PGI 2 109 STG) are of Italian origin (data Qualivita ISMEA updated
to May 6, 2015), or about 22% of the slice of the European market. Our country is, therefore, to first
place on the list of local products and community, for this reason, the products of Italian food are
often the subject of adulteration, falsification, counterfeiting and misleading use of the
geographical.
12
Certified products are an important food and economic heritage of the nation, that must be
safeguarded to protect consumers and the quality of products, producers and legality of the market.
This requires a strong law enforcement efforts against the illegal acts of counterfeiting of quality
marks, the so-called food piracy, which deterrent action for the protection of the domestic market.
In 2009 the law on July 23 n. 99 "Provisions for the development and internationalization of
enterprises and energy", Article 15 (criminal protection of industrial property rights) has introduced,
among other things, the crime of counterfeit geographical indications or protected designations of
origin of food products (art. 517-quater Penal Code): "Anyone who counterfeits or alters
geographical indications or appellations of origin of food products shall be punished with
imprisonment up to two years and a fine of up to EUR 20,000. The same punishment who, in order
to gain profit, introduces into the State, holds for sale, puts in sells directly to consumers or puts the
same products in circulation with counterfeit indications and denominations". It always planned
confiscation of things in any case connected in any way to the crime, as instruments or as products,
and it is introduced to an aggravating sentence if the offenses are committed in a systematic and
organized way.
At the EU level, with the Reg. (EU) No. 1151 of 21 November 2012 ("On the quality
schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs"), repealing Regulation (EC) No. 509/2006 and
(EC) No. 510/2006, was introduced by art. 13 so-called "ex officio obligation", ie the requirement
that the United States to protect its territory all geographical names recognized at European level, in
order to prevent or block any counterfeiting.
1.e
THE ITALIAN FORESTRY CORPS AND THE AGRIFOOD COUNTERFEITING
The activity of the Italian Forestry Corps in the agri-food sector began in the late '70s, when
the forestry Administration has been identified to monitor the movement of sugars as part of the
verification to prevent fraud in the preparation and marketing of wine products, which followed the
action for managing production of tobacco. In the 90s activity mainly concerned the proper use of
funds provided by the EU in several areas of the agricultural sector to adjust the European
agricultural market fraud.
On 9 May 2001, as a measure of emergency response BSE, it was established at the General
Inspectorate of the Italian Forestry Corps the Agri-food and Forestry Unit (NAF), as a result of the
law n. 49 of 9 March 2001 ratifying the decree law 11 January 2001 n. 1, on the emergency caused
by bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE).
N.A.F. operates throughout the Country with functions of coordination and address infoinvestigative and analysis on the subject of food safety, providing operational and logistical support
to the territorial Offices of the Italian Forestry Corps.
Regional Commands are active in the fifteen regional Offices of many agri-food
representatives with the task of analysis and coordination of activities at the regional level. The
activities are carried out with 1,100 Control Stations and 83 provincial investigative Units.
13
In the 2000s the activity has increasingly expanded to involve a number of sectors, such as the
livestock and meats, dairy products, olive oil, wine, live animals, products of certified quality
(PDO, PGI, TSG and organic), GMOs, pesticides and contaminants in general.
The Law February 6, 2004, n. 36, "New order of the Italian Forestry Corps," after stating art.
1 c. 1 the legal and institutional tasks of the Body ("The Italian Forestry Corps is a National Police
Force in civilian regulation specialized in the defense of the Italian agro-forestry estate and
protecting the environment, the landscape and the ecosystem"), establishes art. 2 c. 1 letter that
among the functions of the Italian Forestry Corps will be the "competence in the field of control
resulting from Community legislation and competition in forestry and environmental activities
aimed at compliance with legislation on food safety and consumer biosafety in general".
The D.M. 1 December 2005 "Procedural provisions pursuant to Legislative Decree 19
November 2004, n. 297 on "Measures sanctions under Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/92 on the
protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and
foodstuffs", provides for the Italian Forestry Corps Administration as empowered to carry out
checks regarding typical food protected.
The Ministerial Decree of April 28, 2006 "Reorganization of the compartments of specialties
of the Police Force", establishes that the Italian Forestry Corps, among other things, contribute in
their activities in compliance with the legislation on food safety, with particular reference to the
production cycles in the field. Also, the same M.D. includes the Italian Forestry Corps between
Specialised police operating in the sectors of security in health, hygiene and food, which helps in
their activities to respect the rules on consumer food safety and biosecurity in general.
Law 99/2009 Art. 18 paragraph 2 specifically addresses the use, with the other organs of the
Italian Forestry Corps as the operational arm of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry
during the control time to protect the quality of agricultural food production by combating fraud of
the sector: the Italian Forestry Corps, in fact, because of its institutional mission of police force
specialized in environmental protection and resource agro environmental and food of the country
and its deployment throughout the Country, warned in an advance of the other supervisory bodies
the request for help from both environmental groups, both associations in rural areas, to restore the
rule of law in the environmental sector and agribusiness.
In this specialist area the Italian Forestry Corps has become a point of reference both for the
judiciary, for both organizations and citizens, who are increasingly turning to local knowledge from
staff of the body to decipher and put together some pieces of the degradation, which would not be
included in their criminal design: the food piracy, for example, has to be seen in the broader context
of economic impoverishment and the resulting depopulation of our rural areas and marginal, with
all well-known consequences of environmental and landscape related to it, primarily the
hydrogeological.
Among other things, the Italian Forestry Corps, in collaboration with international agencies to
police cooperation Interpol and Europol, has been able to raise awareness among Northern
European countries to increase the "enforcement" to protect products with geographical indications,
to the benefit of people living on rural areas.
14
The two Interpol meetings organized by the Corps in Italy in 2010 and 2013 and the creation
of the network on counterfeiting agribusiness, called Opson, within Interpol, led to a
contribution of ideas internationally useful to increase awareness of the importance the fight against
crime and agribusiness have placed the Italian model of the controls as a starting platform for what
will be the new system of international protection and the fight against counterfeiting and food
piracy.
In a context of widespread traffic and globalized of foods, therefore, the Italian Forestry
Corps assumes an increasingly important role in the protection of agricultural biodiversity and
the fight against counterfeiting food, which in turn involves the protection of the environment, the
protection of 'economy and food security of the consumer, acting both on a local, thanks to its
presence throughout the country, as in the international field.
1.f
MAJOR NEW STANDARDS OF THE SECTOR FOR THE YEAR 2014
At the end of Chapter 1, dedicated to the analysis of the agricultural sector and its players, it
is useful to report the main regulatory disciplines of interest , which came into force in 2014:
- - L. August 11, 2014, n. 116 (which converts the Legislative Decree June 24, 2014, n. 61),
which, among other innovations, establishing the discipline of formal notice to all
administrative violations committed for the first time in the food sector, provided that they
are remediable and punishable only in money (art. 1, paragraph 3), and the Single Register of
the Inspection Controls (R.U.C.I.), in order to refine the coordination of the activities of the
appropriate bodies (art. 1, paragraph 1); the same law also provides for "measures for food
safety and the production of the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP" (art. 4), in addition to
establishing penalties for anyone who violates the prohibitions of cultivation introduced by
acts I adopted, as an interim measure, pursuant to articles. 53 and 54 of Regulation (EC)
178/2002 (art. 4, paragraph 8) (cfr. Also paragraph 1.c);
- - L. October 30, 2014, n. 161, partially amending the L. 14 January 2013, n. 9 "Regulations
on the quality and transparency of the supply chain of virgin olive oils", he introduces,
among other things:
• • the obligation, for the virgin olive oils offered in packages in public premises
(without prejudice to the use of cooking and preparing meals), using a suitable
closures, such as to ensure non-changeability of the content and the 'impossibility
of reuse of the package after the exhaustion of the original content indicated on the
label (so-called "cap anti refilling") (art. 7, paragraph 2). The violation of the
regulation prescription involves applying to the holder of the public exercise an
administrative fine of € 1,000 to € 8,000 and the confiscation of the product;
• • the obligation on all producers of virgin oils, extra virgin and for lamps to set up
and update the holding file, under Article 16 of the aforementioned Law 9/2013. In
case of failure to comply with this requirement, the production can not be intended
for trade. The violation also involves the application of administrative fine of € 500
15
to € 3,000, also paid by firms recognized that provide annotation in the register of
loading and unloading of olives or oil producers who do not comply with the
requirement of the Constitution of the file business. For the latter is also expected
to sanction the suspension of recognition for a period of one to six months (art. 16
paragraphs 1, 2 and 3). The purpose of the standard is actually to ensure full
traceability of the national production intended for trade;
• • the introduction of sanctions in the event of conviction for the offense under
Article 517-quater, when this concerns virgin olive oils: in this case it is expected
the publication of the judgment at the expense of the convicted on at least two
daily newspapers national circulation, in accordance with Article 36 of the
Criminal Code. (art. 13 para 1);
• • predicting the use of eavesdropping and telephone for the crimes referred to in
Articles 444, 473, 474, 515, 516 and 517-quater of the Criminal Code (art. 14 para
3);
- - The new European regulation on labeling, the Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011, applicable
in all Member States with effect from 13 December 2014.
16
2 - ACTIVITIES AND OPERATING FOCUS
2.a
OPERATING ACTIVITY
The activity of food safety and agro-environmental of the Italian Forestry Corps in the year
2014 was up compared to 2013 for the performance indicators identified. The operations and the
detection of irregularities in the field have produced:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
206 reported crimes (9% more than in 2013);
244 persons reported to the Judicial Authority (8% more than in 2013);
1,589 administrative offenses (43% more than in 2013);
9,744 inspections (28% more than in 2013);
63 complex tasks (11% more than in 2013);
€ 2,218,000.00 of the amount notified;
209 tons of goods seized;
54,014 hectoliters of seized products of the sectors of olive oil, dairy and wine.
In 2014 n. 29 dispute records of administrative offenses for undue transpositions of
Community aid5 under the single payment scheme and in the context of the RDP (Rural
Development Plan) were prepared also: in this regard, some files have been opened at the national
prosecuting authorities and higher administrative sanctions under Articles. 2 and 3 of Law no.
898/1986 et seq. mm. ii. for a total amount of € 2,105,237.
In total, therefore, the amount of penalties in 2014 amounted to € 4,323,327 (about the
same in 2013).
Overall in the period 2008 - 2014 the results are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
995 persons reported to the Judicial Authority;
816 reported crimes;
6,186 administrative sanctions;
€ 16.292,313.00 amount of sanctions notified;
41,026 inspections;
235 complex tasks.
Each year, therefore, the Italian Forestry Corps performs an average of 6,400 controls in the
food sector, ensuring the period about 130 crimes, that activity is of particular importance,
especially given the force that took over the agricultural sector in the last ten years the consumer
and for the national economic sector, as well as for the social, territorial, landscape, environmental
and cultural aspects of the Country.
5
Undue transpositions were implemented by the display of data and false information and through the use of
false loan contracts proving ownership of land belonging to others conducting properties; all in collaboration with those
in service centers agricultural reference. The checks have ascertained the falsity of the declarations of property and title
run, as products in total alienation of eligible holders of such land.
17
In addition, priority has been the investigative action that allowed to penetrate deep into the
phenomenon of agromafie, ie the criminal aspects related to trafficking and counterfeiting of food,
to own land, to the exercise of entrepreneurial activities related to land, the illicit exploitation of
farm labor (illegal).
In the period 2009 - 2014 several complex investigations in the fields have been carried out:
wine (operations "Amarone", "Amarone bis" and "Amarone ter", Commands of art of
Vicenza and Novara, year 2009, seized 200,000 labels and 10,000 counterfeit capsules; Command
tyrolean mineral collectors in Chieti, 2010, seized 6,000 hectolitres of byproducts winey irregular;
survey false wine, Com. Prov. le Taranto; Command tyrolean mineral collectors of Salerno, 2014,
seized 8,000 bottles of wine Aglianico and Falanghina counterfeit);
olive oil (operation "in the footsteps of the deodorized", Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2011,
discovered a batch of 450 tons of olive oil with transport documents falsified; Tavernelle Val di
Pesa - SI -; operation of international cooperation with the French Gendarmerie; Comando
Provinciale of Foggia, 2012, seizure of 3,500 liters of oil free of traceability; Comando Provinciale
of Arezzo, 2013, withdrawn from the market about 2,000 bottles of oil with misleading labeling;
Comando Provinciale of Siena, 2014, seized about 12,000 liters of oil);
dairy (operation “Latte pulito” Comando Provinciale of Brescia seized 3.5 tonnes of dairy
products made with german milk, but labelled as " 100% Italian milk"; operation "stracchino",
Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2011, seized 15 tons of stracchino coming illegally from Slovakia;
Comando Provinciale of Potenza, 2013, seizure of 1 ton of dairy products for violation of sanitary
standards; Comando Provinciale of Avellino, 2014, seizure of 5 tons of cow's milk free of
traceability);
certified products (operation "Kalon-Brion ", Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2009, seized 5
tonnes of different types of counterfeit calabrian salami PDO; operation "black gold", 2011, seized
35,000 liters of counterfeit balsamic vinegar of Modena IGP and of traditional balsamic vinegar;
Comando Provinciale of Brescia, 2012, seized 20 tons of PGI Speck Alto Adige counterfeit;
Comando Provinciale of Bari, 2014, seizure of 2 tons of false Pecorino Romano DOP);
counterfeiting (Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2011, seized 372 packs of noodles flavored
with Chianti Classico DOCG and the Brunello DOCG, but without any authorization; Comando
Provinciale of Naples, 2011 and 2012, seizure of over 140 tons of fish products illegally marketed;
Comando Provinciale of Foggia, 2013, seized more than 36,000 packs of cans of canned devoid of
traceability, for a total weight of over 250 tonnes; NAF, 2014, seized more than 3,500 liters of false
whisky);
mushrooms and truffles (Comando Provinciale of Ascoli Piceno, 2010, seized 100 kg of
illegally black truffles from Romania; operation " Por-Cina ", Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2011,
seized more than 6,000 packages of dried porcini mushrooms from China, but marketed as Italian
Comando Provinciale of Avellino, 2014, seized 30 kg of truffles and mushrooms, with penalties of
approximately 5,000 Euro);
apiculture (operations "Ape Maia" and "Ape Maia bio”, Comando Provinciale of Ascoli
18
Piceno, 2010 and 2012, seized 13,000 packages of propolis contaminated by sprays and withdrawn
from the market 2,000 bottles of food preparations in hydroalcoholic solutions and over 450,000
pearls for chewing; Comando Provinciale of Taranto, 2014, seized over 15 tons of honey held in
poor hygienic conditions);
livestock sector operation “East horses”, Comando provinciale of Reggio Emilia, 2011,
dismantled a network of trade and illegal slaughter of horses; 2013, dismantled vast traffic of drugs
to inflate calves in the north of Italy and seized packages of veterinary drugs for a total value of
EUR 2.5 million; Comando Provinciale of Bari, 2014, seized more than 1,000 kg of beef free of
traceability; Comando Provinciale of Bari, 2014, seized more than 52,000 eggs of different quality
from that declared);
buffaloes (Comando Provinciale of Caserta, 2011, seizure of 15,000 packages of mozzarella
di bufala campana PDO counterfeit; operations "Buffaloes safe" and "Buffaloes safe 2 ", Comando
Provinciale collectors of Caserta and Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2013, seized the province of
Caserta approximately 2,000 buffaloes infected with brucellosis, but passes for sound; Comando
Provinciale of Caserta and Agri-food and Forestry Unit, 2014 arrested 4 people for serious
adulteration of mozzarella di bufala campana PDO);
wheat and pastes (operation "Taralli for horses', Comando Provinciale of Bari, 2012, seizure
of more than 2,700 packages of foods made with bran to use livestock; Comando Provinciale of
Bari, 2013, seized 11 tons of pasta labelled in such a way as to mislead the consumer, and 24 tons
of pasta sold as Italian, but made entirely in Switzerland; Comando Provinciale of Bari, 2014,
seized 2,500 kg of flour and semolina spoiled);
environmental matrices (Potenza, Naples, Caserta) with five different surveys the Italian
Forestry Corps has produced innovative thrusts in agri-food system, national normalized from
subsequent normative acts of government and parliamentarians, in the direction of greater
consumer protection and the protection of entrepreneurs:
olio Extra virgin olive oil (year 2011; Agri-food and Forestry Unit);
GMOs (years 2013 and 2014; Agri-food and Forestry Unit and regional Comando of
Veneto)6;
made in Italy (year 2013; all the national territory);
illegal vaccines in the spinneret of buffaloes for mozzarella DOP (year 2013; Agri-food and
Forestry Unit and Comando Provinciale of Caserta)
wheat and pastes derived (year 2013; Comando Provinciale of Bari).
Control activities were supported by more delicate cutting edge scientific analyzes,
conducted with the help of a fixed laboratory located in the province of Rieti and two mobile
laboratories purchased with funds from the National Operational Programme (PON); where the
6
For GMOs please see, in particular, paragraph 2.c.
19
instruments in the hands of the Italian Forestry Corps were not resulted sufficient, furthermore, they
have signed special protocols of agreement with Research Institutes,, Universities or scientific
institutes (Research Center for Agriculture (CRA) for the analysis of specific sectors, such as
honey, Zoo prophylaxis Institutes Experimental (IZS) for activities related to GMOs, Agricultural
Institute of San Michele (IASMA) Trento for the geographic characterization of extra virgin olive
oil, Italian Wine Union (UIV) of Verona for the analysis on the adulteration of wine, National
Center for Research (CNR) for the analysis of contaminants of food, etc.), the improve the
knowledge of the different food sectors, to implement the knowledge relating to the criticality of
the system and to investigate in an innovative and globalized way the connected crimes.
In this view it is strongly stimulated internal training, with the collaboration of foreign
teachers and experts of different sectors.
The Italian Forestry Corps, also, in the belief that education and dissemination agribusiness
and agro environment are the best form of prevention of lawlessness in the area, regularly carries
out teaching in schools of all levels, discussing with the students and with teachers the problems in
the food sector starting from everyday experiences, from the socio-political international and
European, from surveys carried out and the results achieved.
The overall action performed domestically had the goal and the result of developing
international police cooperation with other foreign countries to combat counterfeiting, since illegal
products, mostly, are sold or entirely made across borders.
For this reason, the Italian Forestry Corps has promoted with the Central Criminal Police,
International Police Cooperation Service of the Interior Ministry, the activities of international
cooperation in INTERPOL - Europol, organized on 1 and 2 international Meeting on counterfeit
respectively in 2009 and 2013, and promoting the organization of the international network opson
involving today over 40 foreign countries.
The controls of agri-food in 2014, in particular, have enabled us to develop various and
complex investigations with the use of more sophisticated methods of contrast.
Performance by Region:
controls (national average: 650):
•
•
•
•
•
Umbria (1,245);
Calabria/Sicilia (1,174);
Toscana (1,191);
Campania (905);
Lombardia (895)
administrative penalties (national average: about 147,876 €):
•
•
•
Toscana (410,397 €);
Calabria/Sicilia (349,190 €);
Veneto (262,036 €);
20
number of persons reported to the Judicial Authority (national average: 16):
•
•
•
•
Campania (80);
Puglia (52);
Calabria/Sicilia (23);
Basilicata (22);
notifications of crime (national average: 13):
•
•
•
Campania (69);
Puglia (45);
Calabria/Sicilia (26);
The sectors where we have operated with greater continuity of action are:
•
•
•
•
•
2.b
contrasting the counterfeiting of agri- food products of origin and protected geographical
indications (PDO, PGI, TSG and organic);
protection of the real made in Italy;
wine;
olive oil;
dairy.
OPERATIONS: THE PROTECTION OF FOOD QUALITY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST
FRAUD
In 2014 the fight against fraud in agro-food and, in particular, counterfeiting and to the Italian
sounding, was conducted through a series of activities for the protection of certified quality
products and the made in Italy food.
The following are some of the main tasks of the Italian Forestry Corps, divided according to
the different sectors; it should be noted that, in many cases, the classification proposed here has
only indicative value and many of irregularities detected result in fact related to different sectors
and present impact on different areas of illegality.
LABELING
1) Infringements of labeling and sanitary conditions, sanctions for over fifteen thousand euro in
Potenza area;
2) seizure of about 10 tons of pasta in some pasta factories from Gragnano (NA), penalties for
10,000 Euros for labeling violations;
3) seized 30,000 eggs and 10 tons of meat without a documentation of their source and origin in
two companies of Bari area; penalties amounting to 4,000 Euros;
4) seized in Reggio Calabria foods including butter, sweets and 700 kg of oranges for labeling
infringements, with penalties of about 22,000 Euros;
21
5) seized fish products sold without labeling in Salerno area;
6) seized in a poultry farm in Bari area 20,000 eggs without any information; fine of 1,500 euro;
7) "Cerere operation". Joint controls between the Italian Forestry Corps and local health
authorities (ASL) in the agricultural markets of Lucca. 13 irregularities for agricultural
products without certification, sanctions over 20,000 euro;
8) seizures administrative and over 33 thousand euro of sanctions in the Chieti area to protect
various food on labeling violations;
9) 550 tons of untraceable olives seized in Chieti;
10) 1 ton of untraceable fish products seized in Benevento;
11) various food products in poor state of preservation and not labeled seized in Perugia;
12) tons of food products made in China seized for irregularities in the packaging and traceability
in a operation between Lazio and Abruzzo.
WINE SECTOR
1) Seized 11,300 bottles of fake Chinese liquor in Brescia area, penalties for up to 9,000 EUR;
2) seized 6,000 bottles of wine irregularly labeled irregular in the province of Arezzo. Penalties of
over one thousand euro;
3) seized 312 hectoliters of wines with denomination of origin protected in Montepulciano for
lack traceability;
4) In Puglia 18 people reported because sold mixture of alcohol and sugar as grappa and held food
soiled and invaded by parasites; 50 Chinese companies raided and seized 2,000 bottles of
Chinese liquor and a significant quantity of expired and untraceable food;
5) fake whiskey seized and three people reported for fraud in trade in Terni in an Interpol
operation;
6) seized 65 bottles of fake Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone, Ornellaia and Tignarello sold
online, for a value of over 10,000 euro; young sued for counterfeiting;
7) 700 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah IGT seized in Bergamo;
8) 2,000 bottles of counterfeited wine from abroad seized in the province of Latina;
9) perquisitions in Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna and Veneto: two suspects for
infringement of Pinot Grigio;
10) more than 8,000 bottles of counterfeit wine seized in Salerno area;
11) seized in Montalcino (SI) 445 hl of bulk wine apt to become Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
and 70 hectoliters in the same type of wine already bottled in a winery without the necessary
awards for sanitation: 2 persons brought before the Judicial Authority and issued sanctions for
almost 30,000 euro.
MADE IN ITALY
1) Fraud to the Made in Italy seized 20,000 eggs sold as Roman, but actually from Romania;
2) committal for trial in Milan for fraud in the trade of a tuber from Morocco passed off as fresh
white truffle; sanction for over 5,000 euro;
3) seized 15 kg of capers in a market of Crotone for the misuse of the name brand "Cappero di
Pantelleria Igp"; fine of 6,000 euro;
22
4) campaign for the protection of Made in Italy in Tuscany: controlled 50 commercial
establishments and issued sanctions for about 60,000 Euros;
5) seized large quantities of royal jelly, Chinese propolis and Serbian honey brand "made in Italy"
in Bari area.
LIVESTOCK SECTOR
1) more than 300 kilograms of beef and pork, hams and cheeses; penalties for 20,000 euro seized
in Calabria;
2) sanctioned two breeders of Biella area for illegal slaughter and detention of calves without ear
tags.
DAIRY SECTOR
1) 50 tons of cow's milk sold as fresh, but devoid of traceability seized in Avellino area; sanctions
for several thousand euro;
2) about 200 kilograms of dairy products without labeling seized in Benevento area;
3) about 2 quintals of dairy products not labeled seized in the province of Campobasso; penalties
for a total of 3,000 euro;
4) false buffalo mozzarellas seized in Pistoia; penalties for 12,000 euro;
5) 2 tons of fake Pecorino Romano DOP cheese seized in Puglia;
6) 1500 kg of Parmigiano Reggiano DOP labeled seized in Bari area undocumented traceability;
fine of 1,500 euro;
7) province of Bari: reported six people for receiving stolen 1,600 kg of Parmigiano Reggiano
DOP;
8) buffalo mozzarella Dop severely adulterated; four stops in Caserta area.
GMO SECTOR
1) GMOs - the powers of attorney of Pordenone and Udine order the seizure and destruction of 4
cornfields Mon810.
PRODUCTS DOC, PDO, PGI
1) Intensified checks on agrifood in Palermo to ensure proper traceability and labeling of food and
respect for the disciplinary production of quality marks (PDO and PGI);
2) seized in frusinate numerous wine bottles with false designations PDO and PGI;
3) checks on the production of "Cinque Terre" and "Cinque Terre Schiacchetrà" PDO wine.
OLIVE OIL SECTOR
1) Seized 400 packaging because irregularly labeled and for misleading advertising of the product:
penalties exceeding EUR 65,000 in checks the oil in Tuscany;
2) more than 12,000 liters of oil from Puglia seized in the province of Siena;
23
3) about 700 packs of extra virgin olive oil "low acidity" seized in Tuscany; penalties amounting
to 18 thousand Euros.
OTHER CONTROLS
1) Operation "Ghostbusters" - indictments for alleged fraud of about 80,000 Euros against AGEA
Agency in Marche;
2) seizures and denunciations for illegal disposal of olive grinding in Cosenza area;
3) 52,000 eggs seized in Puglia quality different from that stated;
4) Ancona: Operation "Pappa virtuale". Royal jelly from China and labeled as Italian;
5) seizures of fish products in "sushi bar" in Turin; penalties for thousands of Euros;
6) 400 kilograms of cockles seized in the province of Pisa for a value of approximately 7,000
Euros;
7) the reported the owner of a company in Battipaglia for food adulteration and counterfeiting of
brand;
8) seized from hawkers 9,000 eggs in Vallo della Lucania (SA) for violation of sanitary
regulations; penalties for about 6,000 Euros.
9) checks on school lunches in Cosenza;
10) in Foggia area seizure of 40,000 eggs to which was attached a date postponed by 15 days
compared to reality; sued the legal representative of the company to commercial fraud;
penalties for a total of 3,000 Euros;
11) seized 15 tons of honey held in questionable sanitary conditions and without certification in the
province of Taranto;
12) seized 10,000 kg of olives and lupins in an illegal company in Bari area;
13) seized 4,800 bottles of water and 500 of soft drinks and juices held in poor storage conditions
in Guardia Piemontese (CS);
14) in Prato seized 74 packets of seeds Chinese irregular bearing labels written only in Chinese fine
of about 2,000 Euros; also suspended for infringements of safety and health at work;
15) seized from shops in Padova 150 kg of stockfish and 80 kg of rice without the documentation
required and various groceries in poor state of preservation;
16) in Terni seized eight tons of frozen food no longer suitable for human consumption; various
fines of up to 15,000 Euros;
17) seized in a company of Bari area 2,500 kg of flour and semolina damaged;
18) controls on business activities of the food industry: 20,000 Euros fines and suspension of
activity for some businesses in Abruzzo;
19) seized about 30 kg of mushrooms and truffles with sanctions of about 5,000 Euros in the
province of Avellino;
20) seized 5 quintals of fish products in Benevento area; sanctions for about 15,000 Euros.
24
2.c
GMOs: THE NORMATIVE PANORAMA AND ACTIVITIES OF THE ITALIAN
FORESTRY CORPS
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as we know, are living creatures who own a genetic
heritage artificially altered by the addition, deletion or modification of genetic elements.
Agriculture is one of the sectors with high "risk-GMO", in particular with regard to the
dangers generated by the induction of resistance or tolerance to pests, from the selection of pests or
"superweeds", alteration of the nutritional value and finally the reduction of cultivated varieties and
biodiversity loss.
Important features are the risks arising from the interaction with other organisms, which could
give rise to a dangerous horizontal gene transfer, pollution of the genetic basis through the
dispersion of seeds or pollen, the transfer of genes in microorganisms and finally the generation of
new bacterial or viral strains for genetic recombination.
The current Italian law does not allow the cultivation of any genetically modified organism in
the Country, except through a prior authorization for enrollment in the "National Register of
genetically modified plant varieties" and a careful separation of the supply chains to guarantee the
principle of co-existence of organic, conventional and transgenic. In Italy there are the regions that
have the competence to adopt measures of co-existence between different types of crops and, as
noted, this possibility has not been used by any Region.
In particular the Legislative Decree n. 212/2001 establishes that the culturing of GMOs
should be subject to authorization by order of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, in
cooperation with the Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea and the Minister of Health, is in
order to "avoid contact with crops derived from conventional seed products," and "not cause any
biological damage to the surrounding environment, given the particular agro-ecological,
environmental and climatic peculiarities".
On December 6, 2012, however, the European Court of Justice said that the cultivation of
GMOs can not be subject to a national authorization procedure when the use and marketing of these
varieties are authorized under Article 20 of Regulation (EC) n. 1829/2003 on food and genetically
modified feed, and the same varieties have been entered in the common catalog of varieties of
agricultural plant species provided for in Directive 2002/53 / EC on the common catalog of varieties
of agricultural plant species , as amended by the aforementioned Regulation.
Among the variety of GMOs listed in the European common catalog is present the variety
of corn MON810, capable of producing a protein-lethal toxin (Cry1Ab) for any lepidopteran pests
and, in particular, for one of the main pests of the species, the European corn borer, Ostrinia
nubilalis, a butterfly widespread in central and northern Italy.
In 2014 a farmer reiterated for the third time (the previous date back to 2011 and 2013) the
planting of genetically modified maize in four plots located in the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia,
respectively, in the Municipality of Mereto di Tomba (UD), Colloredo di Monte Albano (UD), of
Fanna (PD) and Vivaro (PD).
25
The Italian Forestry Corps7, by virtue of its institutional mission of the Police Force
specialized in the conservation of agro food and environmental resources in the Country and in
collaboration with the Forestry Department of the Friuli Venezia Giulia, it took steps last
summer (May-September 2014), on the delegation of prosecutors of Udine and Pordenone,
sampling of these fields, allegedly planted with GMOs, and the destruction of the crops
identified analytically as GM maize MON810.
The elimination of the plants occurred before of anthesis, so as to prevent any contamination
of pollen borne by crops placed in adjacent plots.
The normative prerequisite at the origin of regulatory enforcement adopted by the Italian
Forestry Corps originates from the application of Community rules, national and regional,
which prohibit the cultivation of maize MON810 on the Italian territory. As it is known, in
fact, July 12, 2013 was signed a ministerial decree to be signed by the Minister of Agriculture,
Food and Forestry, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea and the Minister of Health,
which sanctioned this a prohibition for a period of 18 months; January 23, 2015 was extended this
ban for a further period of 18 months, pending a new EU Directive on GMOs that will sanction
the right of Member States to restrict or prohibit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms
(GMO) to 'interior of the different member countries.
This prohibition, moreover, had been reiterated in art. 4, paragraph 8, of Decree Law
91/2014, modified and converted into Law 116/2014: "Anyone who infringes the prohibitions of
cultivation introduced by measures adopted, as an interim measure, in accordance with Articles 53
and 54 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28
January 20028, shall be punished by a fine from Euros 25,000 to Euros 50,000. The author of the
crime referred to in this paragraph is also required to remove, at its own expense, as required by
the competent surveillance authority, in the exercise of the functions of the judicial police, the
cultivation of banned seeds and implementation of measures primary remedial and compensatory
to the terms and conditions to be determined by the region responsible for the area ".
About the specificity of toxic action of GMOs, in fact, there are many doubts in Community
and national level. The EU Council has expressed the need to strengthen the procedures for the
environmental risk assessment of GMOs, with particular reference to the possibility of an impact on
non-target insects; in parallel, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommended the
strengthening of the management measures and surveillance, to prevent the possible acquisition of
resistance by parasites and reduce mortality of sensitive populations of butterflies.
7
In particular, the NAF and the Regional Command for the Veneto.
8
Articles. 53 and 54 of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 essentially provide for the possibility for the Member States to take
"interim protective measures" whenever there is a need to employ emergency measures (art. 54) "where it is evident that
food or feed of Community origin or imported from a Third Country may pose a serious risk to human health, animal
health or the environment " (art. 53).
26
The risk of an impact on non-target populations of butterflies was further highlighted in an
opinion of the Higher Institute for the Protection and Environmental Research (ISPRA) dating back
to April 30, 2013; the same study also did not rule out the possibility of a negative impact on
aquatic organisms are sensitive to toxins produced from maize MON810.
The dossier prepared by the Council for Research and Experimentation in Agriculture
(CRA) on April 2, 2013, then, emphasizes "the impact on Hymenoptera parasitoids specialists O.
nubilalis" and reiterates further the risk of "changing populations Moth non-target ". Finally, also it
has serious concerns regarding the possibility of a predisposition to 'development of secondary
pests, potentially harmful to other crops ", as occurred already in Argentina and is happening in
Spain, on cultures of GMO maize.
Considering the above, at the operational level the Italian Forestry Corps intends to keep
attention focused on the phenomenon of GMOs throughout the country, extending its monitoring
and prevention activities (sampling, analysis, dissemination of information) and repression (in
according to current legislation) to crops of corn of the peninsula, also in order to verify the
possible level of environmental contamination present, with emphasis on the honeycombs of
beehives, used for the production of pollen and honey, located in the neighboring areas to those
GMO fields.
In conclusion, it is interesting to note that, with regard to GMOs, the Italian Forestry
Corps has acted as a pioneer in the field as early as the last few years, contributing to innovation
and contextualization rules of means of preventing and combating existing today9, that
constitute a true showpiece of a country where the preservation of the value-added agri-food
landscape is a priority in order to maintain the area of agricultural production that generate both
high economic remuneration for farmers, both numerous environmental services for all citizens, as
well as products of excellence made in Italy, that represent our identity card in the international
arena.
2.d
THE PROTECTION OF LAND AND FOOD SAFETY: THE ACTIVITIES OF ITALIAN
FORESTRY CORPS IN "LAND OF FIRES”10
The expression "Land of fires", which made its first appearance on the 2003 Report Ecomafie
edited by Legambiente, refers to a portion of land located between the provinces of Naples and that
of Caserta, where dozens of fires are lit every day in order to burn huge piles of waste, deriving
from industrial activities, both from the recycling of toxic waste. In particular, it is waste with high
power fuel, such as tires or remnants of leather, mixed with paints, glues, remains of foundries,
plastic and other highly dangerous slags: waste, in fact, have a cost for the undertakings producing
9
See also: Agri-food and agri-environmental defence report 2013.
10
Most of the informations given in this point are taken from the brochure "Oltre la terra dei fuochi", made from
V.Q.A.F. ing. Michele Capasso, by Comm. C. Marilena Dr. Scudieri and the Ass. C. Raffaele Scarciglia, and it's
available as a free download: http://www.corpoforestale.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/9967
27
and to entrust the disposal to organized crime is a convenient shortcut for many businesses, not only
for those local.
The burden of waste disposal are thus externalised to the whole territory and the various
populations that inhabit it: it comes to environmental liabilities, health, economic, social and
cultural rights.
As is known, in fact, the uncontrolled combustion of waste produces a whole class of toxic
chemical compounds, known with the name of dioxins, carcinogenic, persistent and not easily
biodegradable, which also tend to accumulate in the food chain. Besides having serious
repercussions on the environment and human health, however, it must be said that the presence of
the fires also damages healthy and safe agricultural products, namely those on land is not
contaminated, as it burdens on them, unjustly, the shadow of suspicion resulting from this also
extensive damage economic and cultural, because it affected the entire sector of the Made in Italy
food.
Many of the toxic waste in the Campania region were buried or are burned on farmland,
endangering the safety of our food production and the same agro environmental Italian landscape.
Based on these considerations worrisome, since long time all Administrations and Institutions of the
state are putting their resources together to the system to minimize the effects on public health and
the environment of the phenomenon in question. In particular, since 2006 was established the
extraordinary figure of the prefect for the "land of fires" for the management of the problem of
burning toxic in Campania, as of 23 December 2013 is on an inter-institutional scientific
Working Group (WG)11, established by a ministerial directive of the Minister of Agriculture, Food
and Forestry, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea and the Minister of Health, with the
aim of:
- identify the sites affected by illicit spills;
- define a shared scientific model for the classification of land, for the purposes of the various
types of use;
- prepare a report on the investigations conducted and the possible lines of action on measures
to be taken.
The report of the WG, dated 10 March 2014, showed 5 risk growing groups , allowing to
identify, in the next inter-ministerial decree of 11 March 2014, the agricultural lands of the
Campania region to be subjected to direct surveys at the level of different environmental matrices
(soil, water, vegetation), in order to indicate the areas where food production is to be regulated or
excluded.
The Italian Forestry Corps has ensured the technical WG access to sites in the
availability of private entities, in order to make the necessary samples prodromal to its
analytical research on the possible effects of environmental contamination: only in the period
between 12 and 28 May 2014 were examined 40 of the 51 land classified as "high risk" or "very
11
CRA, ISPRA, ISS, ARPAC, IZSAM, IZSM, University of Naples Federico II are part of WG.
28
high", for a total of about 35 hectares, while the remaining 11 sites were examined between 30 June
and 4 July 2014, following the prior assessment of the possible presence of contaminating materials
underground.
Pending execution of the aforementioned direct surveys, in accordance with the
precautionary principle laid down in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/200212 was still
prohibited the marketing of agricultural products.
Since June 13, 2014, with a special Interministerial Directive, the Head of the Italian
Forestry Corps, ing. Cesare Patrone, has been appointed coordinator of the activities of the WG.
In parallel, the Italian Forestry Corps, both of initiative both as delegated of the Judicial
Authority, is carrying out the necessary investigations for the detection of any offense, also
punishable under the new crime of "illegal burning of waste" (Article . 256-bis of Legislative
Decree no. 152/2006), introduced by DL 136/2013 and subsequently converted into Law February
6, 2014 n. 6, which punishes with imprisonment from two to five years anyone set fire to rubbish
dumped or deposited in an uncontrolled manner, and keep the manner described in Section. 255,
paragraph 1 ("littering"), as a function of illicit subsequent combustion of waste.
2.e
OPERATION "SECURE HOAXES"
The Italian Forestry Corps, as part of an intensive investigation delegated by the Public
Prosecutor of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, seized in June 2013 from approximately 2,000 buffaloes
in herds of Caserta. Led operations, called "Secure hoaxes" and "Secure hoaxes 2", are part of a
series of targeted checks ascertain the quality and safety of foods derived from buffalo milk.
The investigation, which lasted over two years and ended in 2014 with the arrest of four
people, led to the discovery, for the first time, an ingenious and illegal masking system of
brucellosis to the detriment of public health and consumer.
The checks had revealed, in fact, that the cattle seized had been subjected to the
administration of massive doses of vaccine, served to disguise the presence of infectious disease
during health checks.
This fraudulent "trick" was obviously designed to prevent the slaughter of the infected animal,
as is expected from the European program for the eradication of brucellosis precisely in order to
eliminate the risk of infection. Consequently gimmick used by farmers has been the passage of the
bacterium Brucella live from animal milk product, with obvious danger of contamination for the
consumer.
12
The precautionary principle states that "if there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific
certainty should not be used as a reason to prevent them from adopting measures to prevent environmental
degradation.".
29
In this regard, however, to avoid unnecessary alarm, it must immediately explain that
brucellosis is normally removed by the pasteurization of milk.
The criminal system has favored the permanence of the bacteria on farms and in other places
of processing milk infected, resulting in a risk of contamination for operators handling the milk
prior to pasteurization.
A closer analysis of several hundred blood samples of many hoaxes, it emerged in particular
that the vaccine had been given to animals (some of which found suffering precisely from
brucellosis) in adulthood, despite the European Union allows , and only in some areas of southern
Italy, the administration of the vaccine limited to hoaxes in between the ages of 6 and 9 months,
with the respect of protocols managed by local health authorities.
Holders of breeding not only hid the infectious disease of hoaxes, evading the controls put in
place by national health authorities but, after having used up its last legs animals to obtain as much
milk as possible, they proceeded to their slaughter to the sole purpose of qualifying the
contributions provided by the European Union.
In both operations it was detected using specialized precious Zooprophylactic Institute of
Teramo, a center of excellence and reference of national importance for the prevention of
brucellosis, which has referred hoaxes seized in a special operating protocol.
2.f
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION OF POLICE TO COMBAT ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF
FOOD
The counterfeit product is being fought mainly hitting the lawlessness in places far from those
of food production, where are sold illegally counterfeit products. For this it is essential to the
effectiveness of law enforcement to develop international cooperation to build a network of
exchange of information, experiences, methodologies and best practices in this area.
In April 2010 in Sabaudia in Latina at the Circeo National Park the Italian Forestry Corps
with the Office of the Interpol International Police Cooperation Service of the Central Directorate of
Criminal Police of the Ministry of Interior he has promoted the work of the "1st international
Meeting Interpol on the defense of the quality of products for consumers and for the law of the
market".
To consolidate this first meeting and the international cooperation activities, from November
28 to December 2, 2011 was held the first operations in the international fight against counterfeiting
of food products with geographical indications PDO and IGP, which was attended by 12 countries:
Italy, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Turkey,
Democratic Republic of Congo and Great Britain.
This operation, called Opson “International week of action”, which took place within the
network Interpol and Europol, has planned an operational week during which checks were carried
out, in some cases jointly, by the law enforcement agencies of several countries, aimed to prevent
and combat international food piracy in the various participating countries.
30
The operation was a great success, so much so that it was decided to replicate the initiative for
the year 2012. On the occasion of Opson II the number of countries participating has almost
doubled, reaching 22, and coming to include Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Czech Republic, Iceland,
Latvia, Slovakia, Sweden, United States of America, Cyprus.
In May 2013, in Rome, the Italian Forestry Corps, in accordance with the Interpol office of
the Ministry of Interior, has cared for the implementation of the "2nd International Meeting on
combating counterfeiting of food products", with the aim of promoting analysis of previous
operations Opson and deepen the information, experiences and operating methods common in view
of the future development of international cooperation.
From December 2013 to January 2014 the operation Opson III, supported for the first time by
the "Directorate General of the European Commission for Health and Consumers" and coordinated,
for Italy, by the Italian Forestry Corps in collaboration with the Interpol of the Ministry of Interior,
followed this strategical meeting.
After one year, the Operation Opson IV, held between 15 and 21 December 2014 and
between 15 and 19 January 2015, has involved 47 countries simultaneously, EU and non-EU 13,
in combating counterfeiting international food piracy: during the above activities have been seized
or withdrawn from the market more than 11,500 tons (40% flour and derivatives, fruit and
33%vegetables), 814,500 liters (16% oil, 19% wine and other alcoholic beverages ) and 1,230,000
pieces of illegal or counterfeit food (belonging to agribusiness branches disparate)14.
Among the most important investigations carried out by the Italian Forestry Corps, in
particular, there was a seizure, carried out with the valuable advice of the Scotch Whisky
Association (SWA), of 3,500 liters of fake Scotch whiskey, produced in India and sold illegally
in Italy, together with the seizure of about 7,300 liters of wine with a geographical indication
counterfeit, made in Italy for international export, and 12,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil
labeled as Italian, but without traceability.
The main objectives of the Opson network are the identification of organized criminal
networks behind the trafficking of counterfeit food, the development of practical cooperation
between international law enforcement agencies, private companies and, in general, stakeholders of
the various countries involved, and wider dissemination of information on the problems and dangers
associated with counterfeiting agribusiness.
13
For the list of participating countries, compares pag. 41.
14
Page 42 shows a summary table showing the amount of goods seized in the course of the last three operations Opson.
31
2.g
CIVIC PROJECT: AN OPEN WINDOW ON EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL AND ON THE
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO PDO CHEESE
The speed with which our world has become globalized, the speed of movement of goods, the
possibility of buying food raw materials and / or products at a lower cost than would cost if they
were produced in Italy, are all factors which effectively "disconnected" the food product from its
origin, and of which we have not yet understood completely the effects on our society.
In this regard, there are, however, some disturbing red flags, such as the gradual abandonment
of agricultural land and forest, with all its attendant problems of hydrogeological instability;
between crops now suffering from chronic lack of maintenance, there are included for example
olive groves, the cost of whose management can not compete with that of the productions of
Spanish or North African origin, especially when, as in recent years, there are also more or less
latent profiles of illegality.
In the food industry, in fact, the Italian brand is a sign of quality recognized internationally,
by virtue of the fact that Italy is one of the countries with the richest and most diverse agricultural
heritage, that can boast typical products of excellence: it follows the increased vulnerability of our
quality productions against attempts of imitation, misappropriation of trademarks and actual
counterfeiting.
A phenomenon that affects very closely particularly the certified products (PDO, PGI, TSG,
organic), which in Europe account for 15% of agri-food exports and that, only in Italy, make
annually about 12 billion euros (about 22% of total sales of such products in the EU, amounting to
about 54 billion euros, according to an estimate from the Commission of 4 March 2013): among
these, probably the most affected are the top 10 Italian PDO and PGI, which in 2011 accounted for
more 80% of sales and, in particular, the Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, which in 2011 had a turnover
to the consumption of 2.29 billion euros, accounting for 18% of the entire area of the protected
indications in Italy.
Counterfeiting, however, also heavily affects the sector of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), that
in Italy boasts 42 PDO and 1 PGI, but also is one of the undisputed symbols of Made in Italy: in
fact, our country, with its approximately 550,000 tons of EVOO annually produced, represents
about 17% of world production, but the per capita consumption of "liquid gold", as Homer called
it, came in our country about 12 kg per year, that is around to 750,000 tons, about 27% more than
the national production. It follows that, on a bottle of EVOO, necessarily at least one out of three is
not of Italian origin, with all the associated problems of adulteration, of attempted evocation of
fraud concerning the origin and quality, etc.
Not surprisingly, therefore, that, on the occasion of a European project called CIVIC
(Common Intervention on Vulnerability in Chains), aimed, among other things, the analysis of two
sectors of agri-food sector in order to identify the main issues and optimize actions to prevent and
combat, the Italian Forestry Corps, in collaboration with Legambiente Onlus, the Customs Agency
and the Monopolies and Eurispes, we have chosen the EVOO and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO as a
privileged object of investigation.
32
The project, funded by 90% by the European Commission, will last two years and will end in
August 2016: during the project, among other aspects, will be examined and verified new
experimental methods of analytical investigation, designed respectively to the identification of
origin of EVOO through combined use of isotopic profile and NMR (Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance)15, and validation of the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated also, through the
recognition of ciclopropilic fatty acids in cheese, normally absent in a feeding cattle devoid of
silage, as provided precisely the guideline of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO16.
2.h
AGREEMENTS WITH RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS AND UNIVERSITIES FOR THE
ACTIVITIES OF FORENSIC ANALYSIS
Foods to meet the increased quantities required by the market at ever lower prices are subject
to preparations with technology and raw materials more and more complex. For this reason, the
control activities and investigations, especially in this area, require specialization for individual
sectors and chemical - physical analysis to support investigations that could constitute strong
evidence for the forensic judgement. So we have been developed specific agreements and
conventions with research centers and universities that may be of assistance to the judiciary and to
staff working in the investigations:
- Central Inspectorate for the protection of the quality and fraud repression (ICQRF), for
carrying out the analysis of samples of food products and staff training (24 October 2014);
- Eurispes Italy SpA, for statistical analysis regarding the agricultural sector and the
environment, aimed at implementing the investigative activities of the Italian Forestry Corps
(29 December 2014);
- University of Parma, for analytical support to the investigation of Parmigiano Reggiano
PDO cheese (11 February 2015).
15
Already tested in advance in recent years by the State Forestry Corps in collaboration with the Agency of Customs
and Monopolies and with the Agricultural Institute of San Michele all’Adige (IASMA) of Trento.
16
Methodology developed on an experimental basis during the course of 2014 by the State Forestry Corps in
collaboration with the University of Parma and the Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO.
33
2.i
MEMORANDUM OF
DIRECTION (D.N.A.)
UNDERSTANDING
WITH
THE
NATIONAL
ANTI-MAFIA
On 7 November 2014, by the Head of the Italian Forestry Corps (CFS), ing. Cesare Patrone,
and the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, dr. Franco Roberti, was signed the Memorandum of
Understanding between CFS and DNA, which, among other things, committed the Agri-food and
Forestry Unit (NAF) to provide "all necessary supporting information and analysis about the
criminal activities in the field agribusiness" for the fight against organized crime in the fields of
competence of the CFS (environment, agriculture, food), as well as to ensure "adequate operational
support, [...], also providing advanced technology and equipment."
34
3 – CHARTS AND TABLES
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44

Agri-food report CFS 2014 - Corpo Forestale dello Stato

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