Guariniello asks for severity in food crimes: "Renzi facci dream"
"I have a proposal: we need a new organization, a national agency specialized in the field of agri-food crimes. Renzi let us dream! ". The magistrate Raffaele Guariniello thus concludes his lecture on crimes in the food sector, held in the company of Mara Monti, journalist of the Sole 24 Ore. The prosecutor presented the main problems that those who carry out investigations in this sector must face and the provisions provided for by the penal code and the Italian Constitution.
"The laws provide effective tools to prevent trade requirements from prevailing over the protected asset, ie the fundamental right to health and commercial loyalty - the magistrate said - but they are nevertheless to be strengthened, because even the most stringent rules do not reach 'objective if they remain written on paper'.
According to Guariniello, first of all it is necessary to know which are the most widespread agri-food crimes and, secondly, to know how to combat them: "For example with the application of the 5 article of the 283 law Part 1962 (which is on the hygiene regulation of food, ed), but more generally of the whole penal code. In the 2015 the sentences of the Court of Cassation were 89. To give examples: the confirmed condemnation for the sale of tuna with histamine, the anchovies infested with mischis or the cattle fed with products considered carcinogenic ”. The 2016 has already arrived at 14 judgments: "The last for butchered meats containing dangerous substances. On the front of commercial loyalty there are many crimes: from fraud on the market to the sale of industrial products with false signs ".
There are many foods that often end up in the counterfeit network, from mozzarella made with cow's milk and non-buffalo milk to watered-down tomatoes containing cyanamide imported from China. "In all these cases the alarming connection of the crimes with organized crime must not escape."
The is adequate response to the request for justice, which is “very pressing on the part of virtuous consumers and companies”? This is the final question that Guariniello asks himself. “The gaze turns to the public administration - he explains - there are many, even too many, bodies called to supervise, but then the controls prove insufficient. It is necessary to enrich the staff and the professionalism of the inspectors, to train them to avoid that the samples are carried out without following the procedures ". There are two main problems: “On the one hand, the responsibilities of those who work there are not clear in agri-food companies. It is difficult to understand, even by means of delegation, which is the figure to investigate. On the other hand, when it comes to crimes involving the whole territory, it is not possible to carry out an investigation at national level, but every judicial police must focus on the local, handing over the collected material to the reference prosecutor, without being able to have a vision of the phenomenon as a whole ".
di Sara Iacomussi e Monica Merola (Futura)
