'Gatto con gli stivali’: the procedure against Italy now dismissed

<div style="text-align: justify;">As a result of the fraud related to the marketing of false organic products, discovered by the Italian Finance Police last December 2011, named "Gatto con gli stivali-Puss in boots", the EC requested to the Member State specific information in the context of the EU-PILOT system. This system was conceived to improve communications between the EC and the Competent Authorities of the Member States in order to find solutions to the problems related to the application of the EU law, before starting an infringement proceeding (art. 258 of EUFT).<br>In the specific case, the information requested to Italy concerned the interventions finalised to improve and strengthen the organic farming control system, so to avoid that such fraud cases could repeat again, and the measures undertaken to stop the circulation of products falsely labelled as organic.<br>All the initiatives adopted by the Italian authorities to face the fraud case were found appropriate by the DG AGRI services, that have now dismissed the case in the EU PILOT frame. In the note recently sent to MiPAAF, anyhow, the Commission indicates that it keeps high the level of attention in relation to the functioning of the system adopted in Italy. <br></div><br><br>Source: SINAB<br>