On the location of the establishment on the label, the deception continues. The protagonist is Andrea Olivero, outgoing deputy minister of agricultural policies. (1)
Plant location, decree inadmissible. The big lie of the Gentiloni government
On May 2, 2018
our website revealed the big lie of the government of
Paolo Gentiloni
On the location of the plant. In fact, Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis had informed Minister Angelino Alfano, as early as January 28, 2018, of the inadmissibility of the due notification to Brussels of the d.lgs. 145/17.
Therefore, the decree that reintroduced the location of the establishment (of production or, if different, of packaging) – as mandatory information, on the labels of pre-packed foods made and/or packaged in the Bel Paese and sold in Italy is illegitimate.
However, the Gentiloni government has kept its flop under wraps and carried on its election propaganda by boasting about the enactment of a decree that was clamored for by Italian consumers.
On April 5, 2018, the date of formal implementation of Leg. 145/17, Deputy Minister Andrea Olivero had indeed reiterated the deception. Reaffirming the coming into vogue of new venue requirements and related penalties.
More than 60 thousand food processing industries in Italy have therefore faced huge investments, for the revision and reprinting of new labels and the rejection of non-compliant ones.
Plant headquarters, the deception continues
On the afternoon of May 7, 2018
– after
La Repubblica
, the only newspaper in Italy, picked up the news of the big lie
– Mi.P.A.A.F. released a memo to reporters that aggravates the situation rather than clarifying it. (2)
Deputy Minister Andrea Olivero was careful not to answer the logical question ‘why the government hid the rejection of the decree by the European Commission for more than three months before it took effect against the sector operators.’
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, on the other hand, ‘clarifies that the decree for mandatory establishment on the label is fully in force.’ False, as will be seen in the next section.
Adduce, the department at Via XX Settembre, that it had ‘promptly responded to the Commission, objecting to the inadmissibility of the notification and (…) the government is counting on resolving the matter in a positive way.’ I wish it were! (3)
Establishment location, no obligation
Legislative Decree 145/17, as it stands, counts as waste paper. Through gross misconduct of a government that has deliberately failed to follow the proper procedures for prior notification of technical standards, which have been established in Europe for nearly four decades.
The indication of the location of the establishment
On the labels of prepackaged food products
Made in Italy
Is therefore not mandatory. Unfortunately. It can be maintained on a voluntary basis, and indeed, we recommend its use-because Italian consumAtors have finally realized the Value Of the choice. Indeed, buying products made in our country means contributing to the economy and employment in Italy, which is what we need most.
The lawyer Massimo Moretto – one of Europe’s leading agribusiness litigation experts, based in Brussels-confirms what we have repeatedly said. ‘Technical rules not notified in advance in violation of obligations established in the EU, (4) even if included in subsequent national acts, should be considered and treated in the same way as unnotified technical regulations‘, Massimo Moretto explains.
‘
Well, by virtue of a constant and well-known jurisprudence of the Court of Justice.
,
technical rules not previously notified to the European Commission are unenforceable and cannot be opposed to private parties. Conversely, the latter may use the procedural defect (failure to notify) to plead the inapplicability of the technical rules at issue against them.’
‘
‘It goes without saying’
, expert lawyer Massimo Moretto concludes, ‘that the inapplicability also extends to the sanctions provided at the national level for the case of any violation of the unnotified technical rules.’
No obligation, no penalty, only lies and deception. What in any other country on planet earth would have resulted in the instant impeachment of all executive members involved.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Deputy Minister Andrea Olivero had already been hit by a scandal revealed by Report
on Rai Tre, on the subject of organic production. He has distinguished himself in recent months for his strenuous defense of palm oil
. Even worse, for the inaction-his and the
ICQRF
, under his command – with respect to the blatant fraud of lowland alpine milk
(2) See Mi.P.A.A.F. press note 7.5.18, in Annex MIPAAF press note 7.5.18
(3) Maurizio Martina’s ex-regal even ventures to attack the writer, alleging that ‘Certain political polemics from those who, instead of asking the European Commission to respond positively to Italy’s demands for transparency, stand up for the lobbies they claim to fight‘ areastonishing. And it is appropriate, in this regard, to clarify some points:
– Great Italian Food Trade has always been in favor of compulsory citation of the establishment’s location on the label, having, among other things, taken up with Fatto Alimentate the petition launched at the time by the blog ‘Io leggo l’etichetta’. Just read us to understand,
– the writer’s fierce criticism is first and foremost technical in nature. The decree was to be notified to Brussels under reg. EU 1169/11, as an essential condition for its legitimacy. But the government, after moving in that direction, withdrew the notification in defiance of all rules and logic,
– the government’s political responsibility is very serious, as it has caused considerable damage to the sector’s businesses and the environment (due to the waste disposal of food packaging deemed non-compliant because it is obsolete with respect to Legislative Decree 145/17). In addition to having deluded citizens in the election campaign.
(4) See dir. 2015/1535/EU (repealing the former dir. 98/34/EC , which in turn had replaced dir. 83/189/EEC). On the subject of consumer information on foodstuffs, there is instead a reference to Reg. EU 1169/11, Article 45
(5) Of particular note are the judgments of the Court of Justice ‘CIA Security International‘ (30.4.96, C-194/94, paragraph 54) and ‘Ince‘ (4.2.16, C-336/14, paragraph 67)
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
