‘Made Green in Italy’: the sustainability brand

‘Made Green in Italy’ is the voluntary national scheme that assesses and communicates theenvironmental footprint of Italian products according to the European method Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). Established by a state law and managed by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE), it precedes the license to use the related mark only for products that exceed defined thresholds of environmental performance, certified by an independent third party body.

With the entry into force of Legislative Decree 30/2026 – which transposes Directive (EU) 2024/825 (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition. Dongo et al., 2026) – the ‘Made Green in Italy’ brand assumes the role of ‘sustainability brand’. With the dual advantage of having been established by a public authority and based on third-party certification. Adherence to the related scheme can therefore also take on a new meaning to eliminate risks (and sanctions) related to greenwashing in the agri-food sector in Italy.

What is the ‘Made Green in Italy’ brand?

The certification system ‘Made Green in Italy’ — established by law of December 28, 2015, no. 221 (Environmental Attachment, article 21.1) and implemented by ministerial decree of March 21, 2018, no. 56 — it is managed by Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Energy Security (MASE) through its Directorate General for Circular Economy.

The scheme applies to goods (including intermediate and semi-finished products) and services that have origin in Italy, pursuant to article 60 of Regulation (EU) no. 952/2013. The Union Customs Code, it is recalled, identifies the origin of a product made in the territories of multiple countries as the one where the last substantial, economically justified transformation took place.

The reference methodology is the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) which extends the assessment to the entire life cycle, from raw material procurement to end of life. This method is currently defined by the recommendation (EU) 2021/2279.

– ‘Made Green in Italy’ becomes the official sustainability mark against greenwashing

– It is based on the PEF method and is applicable to the food sector

– From 2026, adherence protects companies from sanctions under Legislative Decree 30/2026

Product Category Rules (PCR)

Adherence to the ‘Made Green in Italy’ scheme presupposes the existence of a Product Category Rule (PCR) to be applied to the product group. The PCRs define:

• the , which is expressed in the data to be considered mandatorily and optionally to conduct environmental footprint studies;, which is broken down into the data to be considered on a mandatory and optional basis to conduct environmental footprint studies;
• the benchmarks, i.e. the product profile that represents the average performance of the category and is used as a comparison parameter.

The PCRs can be developed and proposed to the Ministry, alternatively:

• by a grouping of at least three companies (of which at least one is an SME) that together represent over 50% of the turnover national of the category;
• by atrade association or by a consortium that represents over 50% of the national production (in terms of turnover) and includes at least one SME. In this latter case, the association or consortium deliberates on behalf of its members and takes charge, through a lead entity, of the entire process.

If one already exists PEFCR (Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule) defined at the EU level, it must be adopted and if necessary integrated to consider any specificities related to the territories; in the absence of PEFCR, a national PCR is instead developed ex novo. The PCRs are valid for four years.

Review and update of the PCRs

The four-year update follows a process similar to the initial approval: the entity managing the PCR submits to MASE a revision proposal, subjected to a thirty-day public consultation; after the deadline, the Ministry evaluates the contributions and approves the updated version.

The review may concern the adaptation to the evolutions of the PEF method and the European PEFCRs, the modification of the benchmarks of the category, the integration of additional requirements and the adaptation to regulatory or technological changes in the sector. The publication of a European PEFCR for the same category entails the obligation to update the PCR.

During the validity of the PCR, certified companies continue to use the logo. The renewal of the three-year license to use the logo must be requested by submitting a new membership application, with documentation certifying the maintenance of conditions, including any compliance with the revised PCR.

Development and membership

It is essential to distinguish thedevelopment of the PCR from themembership to the scheme:

• the trade associations and the consortia, that is, groups of companies representing 50% of the sector's turnover are the engine of the system as they take the initiative, draft a PCR and submit it to the Ministry;
• i individual operators of Made in Italy, after the publication of the PCR, may then decide to join it and undergo third-party certification in order to use the sustainability mark ‘Green Made in Italy’.

Thus, for example, the PCR «Dried pasta» was proposed by Italian Food Union, the first top-level trade industry association in the food sector within Confindustria; the PCRs for cheeses and DOP hams by their respective protection consortia.

The pioneering commitment of the industrial associative system has, moreover, had so far only marginal follow-up by companies. ‘Made Green in Italy’ still has low visibility and joining the scheme requires investments so far lacking adequate incentives.

Classification, certification, logo usage license

The regulation provides for three performance classes:

• class A (above the benchmark);
• class B (close to the benchmark);
• class C (below the benchmark).

The use of the logo is granted to class A products and to those of class B, the latter on condition that the company presents a improvement plan to be implemented during the three-year license period.

The independent verification is conducted by bodies accredited according to ISO/IEC 17029 and ISO 14065 standards. The Italian leader in certifications CSQA was the first body accredited by ACCREDIA to certify the scheme.

The usage license of the logo lasts three years and is subject to the validity of the relevant PCR; the manager publishes the list of participating products.

Which food products have the ‘Made Green in Italy’ certification?

In the agri-food sector, the approved PCRs and certified products document a growing, albeit still limited compared to the sector's potential:

• extra virgin olive oil. Oleificio Zucchi S.p.A. was, in May 2024, The first agri-food industry in Italy to obtain the brand, with sustainable 100% Italian EVOO (available in 0.5, 0.75 and 1 liter formats) in class A. Class A also certified for Manfredi Barbera e Figli S.p.A., a leader in the production of extra virgin olive oil in Sicily;
• PDO cheeses. TheAsiago PDO was the first Geographical Indication cheese to obtain certification, thanks to the Protection Consortium which achieved it at the entire supply chain level. The consortium's main producer, Latterie Vicentine, certified both Fresh and Aged Asiago, both in class A. The Caseificio Casona S.p.A. in turn certified pressed Asiago. For the Grana Padano PDO, the Cooperative Consortium of Milk Producers Torre Pallavicina and Pumenengo S.c.a. obtained in December 2025 the first authorization to use the logo, thanks to the collaboration with Politecnico di Milano, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Enersem;
• raw DOP hams. In December 2024, Devodier Prosciutti was the first Italian ham factory to certify Prosciutto di Parma DOP – in the three formats with bone, deboned and pre-sliced ​​in tray – with the support of Politecnico di Milano, Enersem and Consorzio di tutela. Then followed by Il Gazzolo S.r.l. and by Salumificio La Torre S.p.A.;
• other categories. In addition to the aforementioned RCPs, in the agri-food sector, as of June 2026 those related to kiwi, pear, alfalfa-based forage and animal feed intended for food production. Other RCPs already developed – dry pasta, vinegar, beef e pork fresh or refrigerated, Ice cream in tray and multipack – are expired or awaiting update.

‘Made Green in Italy’, ISO standards and private certification schemes: the differences

The family ISO 14020:2022 (Environmental statements and programmes for products) distinguishes three types of environmental labels:

• labels of Type I (ISO 14024:2018) are third-party, multi-criteria and life-cycle based ecolabels, assigned only to products that exceed excellence thresholds set for the category, according to a logic pass/fail: that is the case of the EU Ecolabel;
• labels of Type II (ISO 14021:2016. Third edition soon to be published) are self-declarations by the manufacturer, without independent verification;
• labels of Type III (ISO 14025:2006) are the EPDs (Environmental Product Declaration): they communicate the environmental footprint along the life cycle in a quantitative and verified way, on the basis of category rules (PCR), without however setting a minimum access threshold.

The schemeMade Green in Italy' integrates:

• The selectivity Type I, with access reserved only to products that are better than the category benchmark;
• The quantitative communication of Type III, through the Product Environmental Footprint Declaration (DIAP) which must be made available through a QR Code next to the logo and report - for each individual certified product - the functional unit, the summary results of the PEF study and the comparison with the benchmarks, the reference to the verifier, the registration date and any link to the improvement program.

This scheme therefore exceeds the minimum requirement of 'recognized excellence in environmental performance' which Directive (EU) 2024/825 associates with the EU Ecolabel - however not applicable to food products, pursuant to Article 6.5 of Regulation (EC) No. 66/2010 — and Type I eco-labels compliant with EN ISO 14024 (article 1.1.s).

Compared toEU Ecolabel (EC regulation no. 66/2010), which is a Type I mark with criteria defined at European level, the Made Green in Italy differs by:

• the applicability to food and feed;
• the requirement of Italian origin;
• the adoption of PEF method, which increases comparability between homogeneous products;
• the possibility of developing CPR dedicated to excellence national.

As regards the private brands of sustainability, registered by Joint Research Center of the European Commission (2024), please note, Directive (EU) 2024/825 does not introduce a blanket ban: it only bans labels not supported by a third party certification (i.e., not established by a public authority). Private labels based on a certification scheme compliant with the requirements of the ECGT directive therefore remain admitted.

‘Made Green in Italy’, ISO standards and private schemes: comparative table

SWOT Analysis

Strength (strength points)

The combination of the PEF method (Product Environmental Footprint) with the PCR (Product Category Rules) – which must be based on the respective PEFCR (Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule), if existing – guarantees at the same time comparability of data on a European and international scale, and the possibility to enhance the specificities of the Italian production system.

The methodology è solid, also foreseeing that the representative groups of categories develop the national PCRs precisely because they — better than anyone else — know their processes and know how to measure and improve them. Analogous to assigning operators the primary responsibility for food safety, to be exercised through self-monitoring (Reg. EC No. 852/04).

The public matrix of the system coupled with third-party certification gives the logo aauthority institutional that guarantees the full legitimacy and reliability of environmental assertions, in the context of Directive (EU) 2024/825. Even more so because the analysis integrates selectivity models and quantitative communication of environmental performance.

Weakness (weaknesses)

The main limit of the 'Made Green in Italy' system is constituted by the poor availability and updating of the PCRs: without a valid product category rule, participation by individual operators is precluded, and several of the few agri-food PCRs are already expired awaiting revision.

The threshold of representativeness required to propose a PCR is, moreover, difficult to achieve in all those sectors and departments where production is fragmented to the point of not gathering in antrade association 50% of the national turnover, or otherwise failing to gather the necessary consents.

The absence of PCRs for relevant categories where a European PEFCR is already present — such as Wine, of which Italy is the world’s leading producer — is symptomatic of the aforementioned criticalities. The recognizability of the logo among consumers is also far lower than that of established brands such as PDO, PGI, and organic.

Opportunities

The ‘Made Green in Italy’ logo could be a catalyst for promoting the sustainability of Made in Italy products and services in various sectors within a logic of Country system. A driver of agricultural and food industrial policy so far unexpressed, as the brand is almost unknown even to Italian consumers after 8 years from its launch.

The great opportunity is therefore linked to the willingness to implement an industrial policy – of which there has unfortunately been no news or memory in the last 30 years – to support the ecological transition and the promotion of ‘Made Green in Italy’ globally. Especially in favor of the food industry, the largest manufacturing sector in Italy and the EU.

Certification can moreover favor both individual operators in qualifying for public tenders, and the system itself of ‘Green Public Procurement’ or ‘Sustainable Public Procurement’ at various levels of local, regional, national and European administration (Dongo, 2025).

Threats (threats)

Theindividual adherence to the scheme requires, on the part of companies, the execution of a study on the environmental footprint of each product (PEF) intended for certification, whose costs are by no means negligible. Alignment with recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 and dependence on Life Cycle Inventories (LCI) reliable constitute in fact the main cost item for SMEs (Muscas, 2025). Also in this respect, the role of trade associations is fundamental since they can promote supply chain studies which reduce costs for individual members (e.g. Asiago DOP).

Therefore, necessary are public incentives upon membership, proportionate to the burdens of the PEF study. The non-repayable contributions already provided by MASE with two successive calls (directorate decree December 3, 2024, no. 33; directorate decree September 9, 2025, no. 86), for amounts up to 10,000 and 7,750 euros per company, respectively, were not enough to revive a system that if it had been managed by private entities would have already failed. To the point that the second mentioned call received applications for a value lower than the meager available amount (93,000 euros out of 114,000euros available), and was therefore reopened (decree December 18, 2025, no. 170).

‘Made Green in Italy’ and SQNZ, provisional conclusions

Similar considerations to those set out above can be made on National Zootechnical Quality System (SQNZ) which, as has been seen, allows certified companies to declare that food products of animal origin come from 'sustainable farming'. Both systems — ‘‘Made Green in Italy’ and SQNZ — today deserve renewed attention, by sector representatives and companies in the agri-food sector and related ones, in view of the application of Legislative Decree 30/2026 which transposes Directive (EU) 2024/825 on environmental claims introducing sanctions up to 10 million euros (Dongo, 2026). They have a legislative basis and include independent certification, that is, both the elements that establish and guarantee the reliability of environmental claims.

The development of such systems in this new regulatory phase depends essentially, in the humble opinion of the author, on three converging factors:

• Theinitiative of trade associations and consortia in proposing and updating the RCP (for Made Green in Italy) and production regulations (for SQNZ);
• Thecost reduction of individual membership through studies and supply chain protocols; and above all
• Thepublic investment to support the application and promote the visibility of the related brands in a system logic.

Our team of FARE (Food and Agriculture Requirements) is available to associations, consortia and companies that wish to explore these and other opportunities to better enhance food sustainability in line with compliance with current regulations and transparency, without risks of greenwashing.

Dario Dongo

References

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