Food fraud is one of the oldest forms of criminal activity, but it has constantly evolved over time hand in hand with technological improvements, which have enabled it not only to survive centuries and millennia, but also to increase its impact and diffusion. This dissertation aims to analyse the longstanding problem of food fraud in the European Union, with a focus on a specific Member State, Italy. In particular, my work is designed to answer the following research questions: given the strengths and loopholes of the European and Italian frameworks designed to tackle food fraud, to what extent are they appropriate and effective in performing this function? To what extent has Italy contributed to provide best practices and advance proposals for the EU-wide fight against this phenomenon? The effectiveness of anti-fraud measures largely depends on understanding the multifaceted nature of food fraud, with its multiple categories. In this respect, a crucial role is played by adequate definitions and the adoption of a common definition at EU level would encourage Member States not only to scale up anti-fraud cooperation, but also to better understand the features and implications of the phenomenon, thus fostering its detection. At the same time, it is also crucial to understand the factors that act as drivers for fraudsters, from the complexity of the food supply chain to the rising importance of the web as distribution channel. As for the EU, the safety-oriented mindset of its general food legislation substantially limits its applicability to food fraud, which is often purely commercial in nature. On the contrary, the framework specifically devoted to geographical indications ensures far-reaching protection for this specific category of products, which is the one most affected by counterfeiting. Furthermore, key EU food safety resources such as the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are characterized by a number of strengths that are relevant to food fraud and highly significant innovations have recently been introduced, as is the case of the Food Fraud Network (FFN). Nevertheless, the EU legal and policy tools to fight food fraud are still rather limited and much has still to be done to create a coherent framework specifically designed to address this phenomenon, starting from a common definition. Within the EU, a focus on Italy is particularly insightful, because of the impact of food fraud on the country, the excellence of its agro-food sector and the considerable involvement of organized crime. The Italian system is relatively strong in tackling food fraud and it includes best practices such as specific criminal law provisions, the Anti-Adulteration and Health Units (NAS) of the Carabinieri Forces and the Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression of Agro-food Products (ICQRF). Nonetheless, considerable improvements are desirable, especially in terms of greater coordination among domestic authorities and increased efforts to protect the national food heritage. Moreover, an examination of the different Italian initiatives concerning food fraud during the country’s semester of Council Presidency in 2014 suggests that, given its special position in the realm of food and food monitoring, Italy should engage in stronger advocacy of binding and significant EU measures in this area. Finally, in light of the analysis of the EU and Italian frameworks, there are arguably several viable ways of improvement both at EU and national level, from taking advantage of scientific advancements for fraud detection to fostering the international recognition of geographical indications through agreements with third countries.
Le frodi alimentari sono tra le attività criminali più antiche, ma nel tempo si sono evolute costantemente di pari passo con lo sviluppo tecnologico, che ha permesso a questo tipo di reato di superare i secoli e i millenni e di aumentare la propria portata. Questa tesi si propone di analizzare l’annoso problema delle frodi alimentari nell’Ue, con particolare attenzione a uno specifico paese membro, l’Italia. In particolare, il mio elaborato risponde alle seguenti domande: dati i punti di forza e le lacune degli strumenti volti a contrastare le frodi alimentari a livello europeo e italiano, in che misura tali risorse sono appropriate ed efficaci? In quale misura l’Italia ha contribuito a fornire esempi di pratiche virtuose e a formulare proposte per rafforzare la dimensione europea della lotta alle frodi alimentari? L’efficacia delle misure volte a contrastare questo fenomeno dipende in larga misura dalla comprensione della natura complessa delle frodi alimentari. A tal fine, l’esistenza di definizioni condivise è un vantaggio fondamentale e l’adozione di una definizione comune a livello dell’Ue incentiverebbe i paesi membri non solo ad aumentare le iniziative di cooperazione in questo ambito, ma anche a raggiungere un livello più profondo di comprensione delle caratteristiche e implicazioni del fenomeno, semplificandone in questo modo l’identificazione. Tuttavia, è anche fondamentale comprendere i fattori che favoriscono la diffusione del fenomeno, dalla complessità della filiera agroalimentare alla crescente importanza del web come canale di vendita. La normativa Ue in materia alimentare è incentrata sulla sicurezza, il che limita la sua applicabilità alle frodi alimentari, che sono spesso di natura puramente commerciale, mentre la normativa più specifica dedicata a DOP e IGP garantisce un alto livello di protezione per questa categoria di prodotti, che sono il principale obiettivo di pratiche di contraffazione. Inoltre, importanti risorse europee nell’ambito della sicurezza alimentare quali il Sistema di Allerta Rapido per gli Alimenti e i Mangimi (RASFF) e l’Autorità Europea per la Sicurezza Alimentare (EFSA) presentano alcuni punti di forza di rilievo per le frodi alimentari e recentemente l’Ue ha anche introdotto importanti elementi di innovazione, quali il Food Fraud Network (FFN). Tuttavia, gli strumenti europei utili nel contrasto alle frodi alimentari sono ancora piuttosto limitati e vi è ancora molto da fare per creare un apparato normativo specifico per questo fenomeno. All’interno dell’Ue, il sistema italiano è particolarmente significativo, a causa dell’incidenza delle frodi alimentari sui suoi prodotti più diffusi, l’eccellenza del settore agroalimentare nazionale e il ruolo della criminalità organizzata. L’Italia ha un apparato relativamente forte nel contrasto a questo fenomeno e presenta esempi di pratiche virtuose, quali specifiche norme penali, i Nuclei Antisofisticazioni e Sanità (NAS) dei Carabinieri e l’Ispettorato Centrale della tutela della Qualità e Repressione Frodi dei prodotti agroalimentari (ICQRF). Tuttavia, esistono ampi margini di miglioramento, soprattutto in termini di maggiore coordinamento tra le autorità nazionali e maggiore impegno nella tutela del patrimonio culinario italiano. Inoltre, un esame delle iniziative italiane durante il semestre di Presidenza del Consiglio dell’Unione europea nel 2014 rivela che, data la posizione privilegiata dell’Italia in ambito alimentare, il Paese dovrebbe richiedere con maggiore insistenza l’introduzione di misure forti e vincolanti a livello europeo. Infine, alla luce dell’esame del sistema europeo e di quello italiano, si può affermare che esistono diversi modi per rafforzare il contrasto alle frodi alimentari a livello europeo e nazionale, dall’uso delle tecnologie più recenti nelle analisi al riconoscimento internazionale di prodotti DOP/IGP attraverso accordi con paesi terzi.
The Ever-evolving Phenomenon of Food Fraud: an Examination of the EU Framework with a Focus on the Italian System
PENATTI, CLAUDIA
2015/2016
Abstract
Food fraud is one of the oldest forms of criminal activity, but it has constantly evolved over time hand in hand with technological improvements, which have enabled it not only to survive centuries and millennia, but also to increase its impact and diffusion. This dissertation aims to analyse the longstanding problem of food fraud in the European Union, with a focus on a specific Member State, Italy. In particular, my work is designed to answer the following research questions: given the strengths and loopholes of the European and Italian frameworks designed to tackle food fraud, to what extent are they appropriate and effective in performing this function? To what extent has Italy contributed to provide best practices and advance proposals for the EU-wide fight against this phenomenon? The effectiveness of anti-fraud measures largely depends on understanding the multifaceted nature of food fraud, with its multiple categories. In this respect, a crucial role is played by adequate definitions and the adoption of a common definition at EU level would encourage Member States not only to scale up anti-fraud cooperation, but also to better understand the features and implications of the phenomenon, thus fostering its detection. At the same time, it is also crucial to understand the factors that act as drivers for fraudsters, from the complexity of the food supply chain to the rising importance of the web as distribution channel. As for the EU, the safety-oriented mindset of its general food legislation substantially limits its applicability to food fraud, which is often purely commercial in nature. On the contrary, the framework specifically devoted to geographical indications ensures far-reaching protection for this specific category of products, which is the one most affected by counterfeiting. Furthermore, key EU food safety resources such as the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are characterized by a number of strengths that are relevant to food fraud and highly significant innovations have recently been introduced, as is the case of the Food Fraud Network (FFN). Nevertheless, the EU legal and policy tools to fight food fraud are still rather limited and much has still to be done to create a coherent framework specifically designed to address this phenomenon, starting from a common definition. Within the EU, a focus on Italy is particularly insightful, because of the impact of food fraud on the country, the excellence of its agro-food sector and the considerable involvement of organized crime. The Italian system is relatively strong in tackling food fraud and it includes best practices such as specific criminal law provisions, the Anti-Adulteration and Health Units (NAS) of the Carabinieri Forces and the Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression of Agro-food Products (ICQRF). Nonetheless, considerable improvements are desirable, especially in terms of greater coordination among domestic authorities and increased efforts to protect the national food heritage. Moreover, an examination of the different Italian initiatives concerning food fraud during the country’s semester of Council Presidency in 2014 suggests that, given its special position in the realm of food and food monitoring, Italy should engage in stronger advocacy of binding and significant EU measures in this area. Finally, in light of the analysis of the EU and Italian frameworks, there are arguably several viable ways of improvement both at EU and national level, from taking advantage of scientific advancements for fraud detection to fostering the international recognition of geographical indications through agreements with third countries.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/11239