The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF) has renewed the agreement started in 2016 with the Alibaba Group for protection on the Asian agri-food market Made in Italy. That is to say of the 43 recognized denominations of origin and Italian geographical indications present on the marketplace. (1)
Protection of Made in Italy on Alibaba, the ICQRF shield
La task force operative of the Fraud Repression Inspectorate (ICQRF) which monitors and identifies counterfeit products on the sites E-commerce it was strengthened with a specific measure in the Budget law, as we have seen. (2)
For the past seven years, more than 98% of irregular products have been reported by ICQRF and removed from marketplace of Alibaba, including the B2B platform Alibaba.com, serving over 40 million buyer professionals in the world.
Italian sounding KO in 24 hours
Suspicious products are reported by ICQRF directly to Alibaba, through the dedicated portal (https://ipp.alibabagroup.com/). 98% of reports are processed within 24 hours, with notice to sellers of violations of protected geographical indications.
Alibaba, for its part, protects the Made in Italy through an artificial intelligence system, which constantly scans the appropriateness of the products on sale.
These measures they helped remove 96% of infringing listings, before even a single sale was made.
Geographical indications, flagship
'That of geographical indications is a fundamental sector for our economy, for which Italy is renowned throughout the world. The protocol renewed today bears witness to the importance of teamwork and the effectiveness of collaboration between the public and private sectors. In this sense I would like to thank Alibaba as serious and reliable group for the cooperation provided to protect our quality products, to defend consumers and our agri-food sector', said Felice Assenza, Chief Inspector General of the ICQRF.
Marta Strinati
Footnotes
(1) Strengthened the control of Made in Italy: on the Asian market. MASAF renews the agreement with Alibaba Group to protect Italian geographical indications. MASAF press release. 23.2.23 https://www.politicheagricole.it/masaf_alibaba
(2) Dario Dongo. Ministry of Agriculture, ICQRF and Carabinieri for agri-food. Budget law 2023. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 13.1.23
A professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic studies on food and has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
