Italian farmers rally against fake ‘Made in Italy’ products at Brenner Pass

Ten thousand farmers converged at the Brenner Pass on Monday, voicing their opposition to and collecting signatures for a petition against imported foods masquerading as authentic Italian products.

Led by Coldiretti, the Italian farmers’ association, the protest aimed to curb the surge of foreign food items falsely labelled as Italian amidst concerns over the European Union’s perceived undermining of labelling regulations that created foods industry actors dubbed “fake in Italy.”

Farmers also scrutinised the contents of trucks, refrigerated vehicles, and tankers alongside law enforcement officials for “low-quality products.”

“The Brenner Pass symbolises the passage of counterfeit ‘Made in Italy’ products flooding our market, and it is from here that we reignite our battle for transparency in labelling origin, which is a right of European citizens,” Coldiretti President Ettore Prandini said during the massive demonstration.

The gathering at Brenner also marks the launch of a petition campaign to stop the false representation of “Made in Italy” products, advocating for a law extending origin labelling requirements to all food products traded within the EU.

Coldiretti’s goal is to gather one million signatures supporting this proposal.

Farmers at the Brenner Pass demanded increased controls to prevent food fraud, citing instances such as foreign potatoes sold as Italian, counterfeit Brindisi artichokes sourced from Africa, and seed oil passed off as extra virgin olive oil in Roman restaurants.

Stefano Corsi, associate professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Milan, commented on the legitimacy of Coldiretti’s protest as a way to protect domestic products from unfair competition in an interview with Euractiv Italia.

Corsi highlighted Coldiretti’s concerns regarding the lack of reciprocity in food standards and production systems, which he said are legitimate but does not mean fraud was committed.

While importing food made under different environmental and social regulations might have an effect on consumer health and the competitiveness of Italian and European products, only foods imported into the EU falsely claiming they came from within the EU constitutes fraud.

Corsi cautioned against overly protectionist measures, noting the risks they pose to trade balances, domestic industries, and exports, bolstering the Italian economy. He emphasised the need to navigate global markets while adhering to market rules to avoid potential backlash.

Additional agricultural issues in Italy

Corsi also talked about “Italian-sounding” foods, where foods labelled as “Italian” in Italy are often not made with Italian “raw materials” but use raw ingredients imported into Italy and processed in Italian factories.

These foods are then labelled typical Italian foods, which Corsi said should also fall under origin labelling protections.

He highlighted Italy’s production of couscous as an example of this. While Italy leads in durum wheat production — which is what couscous is made from — it is not self-sufficient, importing approximately 65% of its consumption and making it the fourth-largest importer of durum wheat globally.

Italian industries are also the world’s leading destination for Chinese tomato concentrate, sourced directly from Xinjiang, where the Uighur minority faces systematic repression. In 2020, over 97,000 tons of Chinese tomato concentrate arrived, constituting about 11% of Beijing’s total exports, a number that doubled in 2021.

(Alessia Peretti | Euractiv.it)

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