The Salvini-Di Maio government blocks the Ceta agreement (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, literally Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) with Canada. The minister of agricultural policies, Gian Marco Centinaio, opened a new hot front in Europe and in a statement to La Stampa announced the government's intention to invite Parliament not to ratify the trade agreement between the European Union and the Canada and neither "the other treaties similar to Ceta, after all it is all foreseen in the government contract".
Starting from this assumption, the new government seems to want to close off any possibility of free trade and encouragement for the spread of Made in Italy, instead of stimulating exports and really protecting it against Italian sounding, i.e. against the commercial practice of copying names of Made in Italy products to sell locally produced "copies". In Parliament and in various European countries, the Northern League minister claims, there is a large majority who say they are against the ratification of the treaty: "It is not just a question of a position of the sovereigns of the League, but doubts about this agreement are common to many of my European colleagues”. The agreement doesn't work "because it only protects a small part of our PDO and PGI products," concluded Centinaio.
Positive response to the words of the new minister by Coldiretti, which has always been critical of international agreements. Roberto Moncalvo, president of the association, said: "the decision not to ratify the free trade treaty with Canada is a right choice in the face of a wrong and dangerous agreement for Italy". According to Coldiretti, "for Italy, the opposition is justified by the fact that with Ceta, for the first time in history, the European Union legitimizes food piracy to the detriment of the most prestigious Made in Italy products in an international treaty, explicitly granting the green light to imitations that exploit the names of national specialties, from Asiago to Fontina, from Gorgonzola to Parma and San Daniele hams, but Parmigiano Reggiano will also be freely produced and marketed from Canada with the translation of Parmesan”.
On the merits, it should be remembered that the agreement provides for the almost total zeroing of customs duties on goods, 98% of the duties abolished for a value of 400 million euros, and gives a stimulus to trade and the creation of new jobs, the recognition of 173 protected geographical indications of which 41 are Italian: bresaola della Valtellina, balsamic vinegar of Modena, buffalo mozzarella from Campania and Parma ham, among others. Remember that Italy exports much more to Canada than it imports: over 5 billion euros in exports against 1,9 billion in imports.
The response from the European Union was not long in coming: "The Commission has an interest in working with the EU states to ensure that European trade policy is mutually beneficial for all". This is the reply of the spokesman of the European Commission to the request for a comment on the position expressed by the Italian agriculture minister Gian Marco Centinaio, against ratifying the trade agreement with Canada.
This of Ceta is a multilateral agreement between the European Union and Canada and as such must be signed by all the parliaments of the member states, if this were not the case the treaty itself could collapse, therefore even if there are some fears about counterfeiting, loss value of exported goods and the reduction of jobs linked to increased competition may seem legitimate and should be considered, would it not be preferable to continue to stimulate international economic relations, fight the Italian sounding and increase controls over the entire process of exports and imports, rather than opening up to protectionism?
