MADE IN ITALY: MINISTER DE CASTRO DECLARES FOOD EXPORTS WORTH 24 BILLION EUROS. MID-TERM GOAL IS TO DEVELOP ENTERPRISES

“Made in Italy” food products continue to grow in popularity abroad. In 2007, the food and agriculture sector led Italian exports, reaching total earnings of almost 24 billion euros. This was recently revealed by Italian Minister of Agriculture, Paolo De Castro while laying out the activities of 2007 and the prospects for 2008.

“Thanks to the politics initiated by the government and the action taken by enterprises” – stated De Castro – “it was possible to register almost 24 billion euros in exports in 2007, with a growth rate that is still largely expanding. It is a progress that has been maintained within the confines of the EU and third markets, notwithstanding the reinforcement of the euro”.

For De Castro, the strong point remains the role of enterprises and, in this regard, he emphasized the need to, “continue with the politics (identified by the finance bill) directed towards strengthening the entrepreneurial system in order to render it continuously more competitive within a global context”.
On the internal market, however, things are going a little less well, with the consumption of fruits and vegetables falling by 15% in volume over the past five years. At the same time, the dynamics of the economy are difficult, with national earnings at a very low growth rate and, for some years now, lower than inflation rates. This means that real incomes have fallen. As a consequence, the attitudes of Italians have changed in regards to food spending, with a new preference for acquiring discounted goods.

According to De Castro, the internal market needs consolidation. “The standards reached in terms of food health, the variety of supply and the culture of the typical Italian food and agriculture system, are the main ‘weapons’ to use in order to defend the internal market from the competition, that is often unfair, from imports.

According to the minister, it is on the EU and international front that Italy has obtained the best results with the latest EU reforms in agriculture, wine and the elimination of the “set-aside” that had permitted the reduction of the price of grain. There is also a lot of activity in regards to the diplomatic front and for commercial support: “The missions in China, Japan, Russia, Brazil, the U.S., as well as EU countries have reaped significant success, like with the opening of prosciutto exports to China, and oranges to Japan”.

And for the future? “The 2008 Finance Bill” – explained De Castro – “confirms the level of public support for the sector, reinforcing and amplifying intervention tools like tax, VAT, and gas oil concessions, thus re-launching the politics of agro-energy, as well as many other points directed towards strengthening enterprises”.
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De Castro concluded that there was also incentive towards promoting mergers and acquisitions among enterprises. “The law to balance the 2007 budget has set aside 118 million euros to cover the market sector crisis of 2005”. And it appears that the fishing sector has also been aided. “The finance bill has confirmed the fiscal benefits for fishing with Law 30, which gives the go-ahead for fishing credit, extending the operation of funds for young farmers and young fishermen”.