Last week, the approval process of the so-called “Quality Package”, which will substantially replace current Regulation (EC) no. 510/06, was concluded in Brussels.
The requests made in recent years by the Italian consortium system focused on 3 topics considered central in the discussions held at the EU level:
- the recognition of a specific role attributed to producer associations and, therefore, with reference to Italy, the protection consortia;
- the ex-officio protection necessary to ensure equivalent and reciprocal protection of DOP and IGP products in all EU member states;
- the regulation of the production volumes that is essential for a balance between supply and demand in the market, a measure that, in the first place, is highly desired by the operators of the production chain.
AICIG warmly welcomes the acceptance of the requests contained in the first two points; it would, instead, have preferred not to postpone the discussion of the third point (the right to regulate production volumes, already provided for the DOP cheese industry) on which we will continue to insist.
In fact, at the conclusion of negotiations, the Council issued a statement to the Commission that it considered it more appropriate to discuss the specific issue of production volumes (which, as mentioned, is already provided for the DOP dairy product industry and included in the milk package approved in recent months) in the context of the single CMO, considered the most suitable regulatory container for the provisions being negotiated.
Moreover, the first CMO draft prepared by rapporteur Michel Dantin (French MEP) already included a provision dedicated precisely to the regulation of production volumes.
It will therefore be important to carefully follow the evolution of negotiations concerning the single CMO so that the expectations of the protection consortia and operators active in the quality food sector can be fully and positively accepted.
It seems only right to express gratitude for the work of Minister Catania and his staff, as well as that of the Italian members of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament, with President De Castro and the Honourables Dorfmann and Scottà in the forefront.
“During the negotiations,” said Giuseppe Liberatore, President of AICIG, “we worked to include all the requests made in the regulatory measures under discussion. The provisions relating to regulation of production volumes, with particular reference to the DOP cheeses, were already included in the recently approved milk package. We are convinced that negotiations relative to the single CMO can only confirm this same line, extending the right to schedule the production volumes to be placed on the market to all geographical indication products.”
