The Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies announces that in 2017, thanks to the operations of the control bodies connected to the Mipaaf - Inspectorate for the repression of fraud (ICQRF), the Carabinieri of the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Protection Unit Command and the Anti-Fraud Nuclei (NAC), and the Port Authority of Porto - Coast Guard - 170 thousand checks were carried out in the Italian agri-food chains, for a total value of over 150 million euros of seizures and more than 10 thousand penalties. In particular, for the holidays and the New Year, operations to protect consumers have been strengthened, with a stronger commitment to the territory.
“With these numbers we confirm our leadership at European level in the field of controls of the agri-food chain - declares Minister Maurizio Martina - for greater protection of consumers and businesses in good standing. This year we have seen an increase of over 6% compared to last year, when an inspection record had already been set. I thank the women and men who are committed to guaranteeing the quality and safety of the products that arrive on Italian tables during these hours of celebration. Our commitment goes on ”.
FOCUS NEW YEAR
The Carabinieri of the Environmental Protection and Agri-food forest protection unit and the Anti-fraud Unit are in the field for checks on typical products of the holidays and have seized more than 30 tons of food and 45mila homogenized, not in compliance and ready to be marketed.
The Coast Guard with the “Dirty Market” operation carried out checks on the entire fish supply chain, to counter the arrival, on the tables of Italians, of “unsafe”, “unsecured” and therefore potentially dangerous products. 15 Regional Maritime Commands are engaged and, in the space of just one month, 11.000 checks were carried out along the entire commercial chain. And seizures of approximately € 1,4 million were made.
The Ministry's Fraud Repression Inspectorate is confirmed as one of the major anti-fraud authorities in Europe, in particular for the safeguarding of products with geographical indications. The innovative activity to combat false Italian Dop and PGI agri-food products on the web continues in these days. Fight against fake parmesan or balsamic vinegar, until the stop of canned prosecco made a few weeks ago with 30 million cans ready to be sold on the internet. Over two thousand web operations have been successfully completed by ICQRF with the removal of fake products from the shelves of the world's major e-commerce players such as eBay, Alibaba and Amazon.