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EXCESSIVE STATUTORY POWERS VESTED IN THE DOP CONSORTIA (Advisory opinion)


PRESS RELEASE



PRESS RELEASE

The Competition Authority has reported two government Bills for vested unjustified powers in the consortia that protect DOP commodities.

        The Competition Authority has submitted a report to parliament and to the government on ‘denominations of protected origin’ (DOP) in relation to the provisions of the 1999 European Community Bill and the Bill contionaing 'Provisions regarding the denomination of protected origin, protected geographic indications, and the certification of specificity of agricultural and food products in implementation of Community law’.
        The provisions of this Bill are intended to vest the consortia created to protect DOP commodities with powers which the Authority considers to be prohibited by the principles and rules of both Community and Italy legislation, because they are already vested in other organizations. In particular, the consortia would be given back the power to place marks or labels on DOP products which, since 1 January 1998, has been done by independent control bodies authorized specifically for this purpose by the Ministry of Agriculture, as the final stage in the procedure for ascertaining that the DOP products are compliant with the technical specifications imposed on their production. The Authority deems this to be an infringement of Community Regulation 2081/92 governing this matter, and could impose unjustified constraints on free enterprise by the various companies producing DOP products.
        Furthermore, both pieces of draft legislation would permit the consortia to conclude agreements and adopt resolutions pursuant to Section 11 of Legistative Decree  no.173/98, relating to the possibility of concluding agreements in the food industry to programme and schedule production and approve plans to improve the quality of DOP products, and consequently limit the volume of supply. Such agreements could be concluded between the farmers, or between the farmers and food companies. The legislation would therefore empower the consortia, which mainly represent the interests of the processing industries, to unilaterally set ceilings on production in blatant contradiction of opinions issued by this Authority in numerous earlier investigations, and in previous reports.

Rome, 20 July 1999