Associazione Nazionale Industria e Commercio Carni e Bestiame
ASSOCARNI
Nata nel 1983,Assocarni è oggi l'Associazione Nazionale più rappresentativa del settore carnicolo italiano (allevamento, macellazione, sezionamento, trasformazione e commercializzazione).
ID: 977084326206-30
Lobbying Activity
Meeting with Roberto Berutti (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski) and Association nationale interprofessionnelle du bétail et des viandes and
15 Jul 2021 · EU's agricultural promotion policy
9 Mar 2021
The orientation of the European Commission to exclude or reduce funding for the promotion of the meat sector is very serious and detrimental to the work of a supply chain that contributes significantly to ensuring Europe's food independence and to the protection of land and rural areas.
The Italian animal production system is a strategic asset for the country. It represents, in the completeness of its supply chains, about half of the added value of the national agri-food industry, contributes to the export of Made in Italy, provides employment to about 150,000 workers, presides over 40% of the national rural territory and is the custodian of an important part of history and cultural and gastronomic traditions of Italy.
Italian animal husbandry systems can actively contribute to the solution of the emerging problems of the third millennium, such as the fight against climate change, the contrast to depopulation and degradation of the "internal areas" and the safeguarding of the landscape and cultural values of the national territory.
The road to complete sustainability of human activities, including meat production, is very long. However, compared to 1990, the Italian livestock sector, thanks to the continuous search for efficiency through the use of new technologies applied to the entire chain, has reduced emissions by 12%, and compared to 1970 Italian livestock farms have reduced by 40% the emissions of methane, the main greenhouse gas of livestock farming.
Alongside the need to redesign livestock systems, Italian research is also developing an intense activity in the field of precision animal husbandry and alternative food sources. The application of technologies can ensure the achievement of important results in terms of improvement of productive and reproductive performance of animals, improvement of animal health conditions as well as in terms of reduction of drug use and optimization of resources.
In terms of health, on the other hand, our companies support the adoption of balanced diets that ensure a proportionate intake of all protein-source foods, both of plant and animal origin.
Even the Lancet Journal, which presented the study "Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study", in which ample emphasis was given to the presumed and generalized harmfulness of meat, has subsequently taken a step back on its evaluation criteria, re-evaluating downwards the position of meat as a health risk factor.
Promoting the sector through European co-financing in fact allows our companies to participate in the strategies prepared by the Common Agricultural Policy and in the realization of the objectives of the United Nations: to support innovation and digitalization in agriculture and rural areas and encourage their adoption; to increase the sustainability of production, while mitigating climate change, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants; to increase animal welfare and protect the income of farmers.
Not to mention that the reduction in funding prevents the valorization of European meat, leaving room for the consumption of meat from some third countries produced according to environmental, health and labor standards that are not up to European ones.
The idea of excluding specific products and/or sectors can therefore fuel unfair competition and does not reflect reality.
Promoting European meat, on the other hand, informs consumers and makes them aware that the EU sector is in line with the ambition to provide safe, nutritious, high quality products produced by environmentally committed companies.
It is essential that promotional campaigns continue to be co-financed by the European Union, to help member states to inform their own consumers about the quality and nutritional contribution of meat produced in the Union, while supporting a balanced consumption of animal proteins, within a varied diet rich in all the main nutrients.
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