The associations write to Occhiuto to unblock the process, demonstrating that the PDO is not achievable in a short time
The “saga” of the Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria PGI case continues and farmers and trade associations demonstrate that the PDO hypothesis has turned out to be a ridiculous and extremely dangerous bluff, as it supports the industry and not the agricultural supply chain. After the ministerial approval of the Protected Geographical Indication in December 2023, on 28 February 2024 a sharp swerve by the Calabria Region in favor of a hypothetical PDO interrupted the PGI process, the conclusion of which, after three years of investigation, was missing only the public assessment meeting. The outcry from the bergamot growers was immediate and intense with participatory public protest assemblies, sit-ins at the Regional Council of Calabria and numerous awareness initiatives supported by trade associations and trade unions, by local mayors, by the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria, from representatives of left-wing and right-wing parties, even from questions in the Regional Council. Following a recent “opening” by the governor Roberto Occhiuto live on TV and the regional councilor for agriculture Gianluca Gallo, some trade associations are writing directly to the two politicians involved asking for an immediate rethink, given that months have already been lost precious to the detriment of farmers and given that all the critical issues of a PDO which is currently unachievable and whose investigation has actually never been undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture have finally emerged. Copagri Calabria, Liberi Agricoltori-Anpa Calabria, Conflavoro Agricoltura, Nuova Unci Calabria, USBlavoro Agricolo and the Committee of Bergamot growers from Reggio have asked Occhiuto and Gallo to support and restart the PGI process in order to bring it to a conclusion and are subsequently made available to work together for the possible obtaining of the PDO. In summary, it is reiterated that it is paradoxical to give up a now achieved objective such as that of the PGI to support the PDO path which has proven to be uncertain and whose approval would take years. Giuseppe Falcone of the Reggio Calabria Bergamot Growers’ Committee which, together with the other acronyms, vigorously supports the “Promoting Committee for the PGI Bergamot of Reggio Calabria -ATS” chaired by Rosario Previtera, what is happening: “It is a story of embarrassing drama and superficiality which would make us smile if it weren’t for the fact that bergamot growers are continuing to be seriously damaged, who are increasingly subject to unfair competition due to the introduction and use of bergamot from other provinces and regions in a period of full-blown crisis. Obtaining the PGI for the Bergamot of Reggio Calabria, which is the only path that can be taken today, will allow the necessary protection of the product given that its regulations require that all phases along the supply chain take place in the suitable area just as for a PDO. Furthermore, with the PGI it will immediately be possible to market with a quality brand and to break free from the decades-long yoke of the essential oil industry which acts as a cartel to set the annual price of the fruit. We asked Occhiuto and Gallo to withdraw the singular unfavorable opinion towards the PGI forwarded by the Agriculture Department to the Ministry on 28 February and to instead request the immediate convening of the public assessment meeting, with the official commitment on our part and of everyone to try in the future to transform the PGI into a PDO, given that today the conditions do not exist. It is now official that the vaunted University studies which should have allowed the extension of the DOP specification from the essence to the fruit do not exist, that the application presented in August to the Ministry and the Region by the DOP essence Consortium lacks the obligatory documentation necessary for approval and that the Specifications are completely anachronistic as well as inapplicable under current legislation: just think for example that they provide for the bitter orange as a rootstock which has been banned for a decade in Italy or that it provides for a number of plants hectare such as to exclude most of the historic bergamot growers as well as the most modern and innovative systems. We are organizing the third public assembly in which we will highlight those further critical issues that make the PDO unfeasible in the immediate future. We are confident that governor Occhiuto will want to put a positive end to this controversy for the good of the farmers and the entire bergamot production chain, the pride of the whole of Calabria”.
COMMITTEE OF BERGAMOTIC GROWERS OF REGGINI
Tags: Bergamotto case Reggio Calabria PGI
