Ecommerce food, rules and opportunities. This is discussed at the Expo Cafe in Udine, June 20, 2018
Ecommerce continues to erode market share at the
retail
physical.
Growth is shapely both in the most vocated sectors (IT above all) and also in the food sector. The
food & grocery
marks a
+34% in 2018, from € 0.83 billion to € 1.1 billion. (1)
A great opportunity, for Italian agribusiness. But also a serious risk, in terms of protecting the rights of consumers and workers in Italy. Where the
business
of Cupertino tends to ignore both categories, and the authorities in charge tend to ignore its violations of law.
June 20, 2018 in Udine, we will talk about this very thing at ‘Tajus, aperitifs with the jurist‘. A meeting organized by the Department of Legal Sciences of the University of Udine.(2) Thanks to. Silvia Bolognini – professor of agricultural law-and Giulia De Luca, a doctoral candidate in legal science, who interview lawyer Dario Dongo. Himself a PhD in European food law, as well as founder of FARE – Food Agriculture and Requirements and GIFT – Great Italian Food Trade.
Food ecommerce, the mandatory information
EU Regulation 1169/11
, c.d.
Food Information to Consumers
, requires that a wide range of news be made available to the consumer. The so-called.mandatory information (3) must be displayed on the label, or otherwise on the sites of for sale online.
The mandatory information
‘
shall be available prior to the conclusion of the purchase and appear on the medium of distance selling or shall be provided by any other appropriate means clearly identified by the food business operator
‘ (EU reg. 1169/11, art.14)
The prescriptions are unequivocal
and extend
even to the distributor
. L’
survey conducted by GIFT
on the main ecommerce platforms of the Italian retail sector, however, shows that several
operators
Have persisted in violating them. And so to deny the information rights granted to consumAtors by reg. EU 1169/11.
Amazon
against all
Amazon vs.
all.
The US ecommerce giant continues its conquest of the planet in defiance of all rules and rights. As has already been pointed out, Amazon is against:
– workers
, exploited like hamsters in a cage,
– consumers
, who are routinely denied mandatory food information,
– suppliers
, strangled by abusive business practices
that place any responsibility on them,
– the IRS
, systematically evaded thanks to a
ruling
tax ruling signed by Jean-Claude Juncker (then premier in Luxembourg) that was declared illicit by the same European Commission he now chairs.
L’
Antitrust
, Competition and Market Authority (
AGCM
), received two complaints from us against Amazon. In December 2017, Great Italian Food Trade reported the following to the AGCM. the systematic omission of mandatory information, on more than 20 percent of food products for sale on Amazon Pantry. By attaching appropriate
screenshots
, related to the ‘blind’ sale of more than 250 foods.
Abusive business practices of Amazon were reported in April 2018, by GIFT to the Antitrust Authority. Which has the competence to sanction such abuses under the fateful – how widely disapplied – Article 62 of Law 24.3.12 no. 27. (4)
Antitrust and ICQRF, ‘
The sound of silence’
‘
The sound of silence
‘
, the sound of silence dominates the scene. In spite of the blatant violations of even criminal law by Amazon, the Antitrust Authority has not yet initiated the investigation, based on the reports it has received.
THE ICQRF
– which, for its part, claims sole ownership of controls and sanctions regarding consumer information on food products-does not add even a murmur to the silence.
The Central Institute for Food Quality Control and Repression Having in fact dedicated 295 controls, in the whole of 2017, to food products sold online in Italy with a total value of 812 million euros (+37% compared to 2016).
A gnat to an elephant, in short, it is more annoying. And the elephant meanwhile tramples, rights upon rights.
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Data from Netcomm Forum, an Italian ecommerce consortium, according to which in 2018 the value of ecommerce in Italy will reach
er will reach 27 billion euros, +15%
compared to 2017
(2) Appointment Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 6 p.m., at the Loggia del Lionello, Piazza della Libertà 10, Udine
(3) Cf. reg. EU 1169/11, Articles 9 and 10
(4) For further discussion of Article 62 of Law 27/12, please refer to the free ebook ‘Article 62, a revolution‘, by Dario Dongo, on http://ilfattoalimentare.it/scarica-gratis-libro-articolo-62-pagamenti-commercio.html
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
