It opens a new important market in the USA for Tuscan Finocchiona IGP, the cured meat appreciated by Niccolò Machiavelli whose origin dates back to the Middle Ages, when the butchers, to compensate for the use of the rarer and more expensive pepper, thought of adding to the mixture what Mother Nature made available in the Tuscan fields and hills: the fennel seeds. Over the centuries Finocchiona has become increasingly appreciated in the most disparate combinations on tables throughout Italy and also abroad with a production record which in 2021 recorded over 2 million kilograms of sausage dough for 1 million and 92 thousand pieces produced. Great success also for the IGP Norcia ham.
The Consortiums for the Protection of Finocchiona IGP, for Tuscany, and of Prosciutto di Norcia IGP, for Umbria, have in fact obtained recognition from the US authorities of Tuscany and Umbria as territories free from swine vesicular disease. This will result, at the end of the 60-day period from publication on the Federal Register, in the possibility for Tuscan salami factories, in relation to products with less than 400 days of seasoning, and for all Umbrian delicatessens in important future business and employment opportunities.
"We had been waiting for this moment for years: the publication that took place in these days is the summation of the intense work of many people starting with the Consortia, from the regions to get to the institutions” he says Alessandro Iacomoni, President of the Consortium for the Protection of Finocchiona PGI.
"We are pleased with this news that we have been waiting for for some time, due to the strategic importance it has for our companies and for our territories: a first step towards important opportunities" he continues Pietro Bellini, President of the Consortium for the Protection of Prosciutto di Norcia PGI.
The final outcome will be obtained at the end of the period of observations and comments, which will end on 23 October; but the publication by the US authorities represents a first important step in the direction of expanding the reference markets for products made in Italy by bringing them to the US territory.
