MADE IN ITALY: “A 60 BILLION EUROS FOOD THEFT”, SAYS THE CIA - ITALIAN FARMERS CONFEDERATION. THE RANKINGS OF THE MOST COPIED PRODUCTS

To speak of “robbery”, “theft”, indiscriminate and relentless assault is not out of line. We are facing a real siege, complete with head-spinning numbers: a deal worth 60 billion euros. That’s the amount of International “food piracy” of Made in Italy food products, the most cloned in the world. From ham to olive oil, from cheeses to wines, from salami to fruit and vegetables, “fakes” and “clones” continue: a serious threat not only to our PDO, PGI and TSG products, which represent the top of the line of Made in Italy in the world, but to the entire food system, the CIA, Italian Farmers Confederation emphasized during a recent assembly.

The most copied product of the PDO and PGI is Parmigiano Reggiano. Its “clone” is found in Argentina, Brazil, in Japan, as well as in Germany and the United Kingdom. Next are Prosciutto di Parma and San Daniele, Grana Padano, Mozzarella di bufala and Asiago cheese. Recently, there has been a rising number of “fakes” of Gorgonzola. And so we find it under the name of Tinboonzola and Cambozola.
The phenomenon of food piracy, which amounts to about 3 billion euros in damage to the National Agricultural Production, is becoming, highlights the CIA, more and more serious.
Just think that only in the United States the turnover on imitations of Italian cheeses goes well over 2 billion dollars. And the damage, unfortunately, is destined to get worse, adds the CIA, because there is still no real defense system of the PDO, PGI and TSG logos, which include cheeses, olive oils, sausages, ham and vegetables. The defense system should not only protect the cultural heritage and image of Italy, but also increase the value of an economic sector that has a consumer turnover of 8.851 billion euros and an export value of 1.844 billion euros.