The agro-food sector, considered as “a critical infrastructure in Italy in relation to economic indicators and number of persons involved in this activity, must be regularly protected with the aim of preserving its high level standard”. This was the message communicated by the Minister of Agriculture, food sovereignty and forestry, On. Francesco Lollobrigida in his lecture delivered at the Seminar on environmental crime and agro-food fraud, held in the morning of 15 May 2023 in the “Prefetto Carlo Mosca” Conference Hall at the Scuola di Perfezionamento per le Forze di Polizia. This Seminar was attended by prominent figures, such as the Chief of Police – Director General of Public Security Department, Prefetto Lamberto Giannini.
The Minister, welcomed by the Scuola di Perfezionamento Director, Carabinieri Corps Major General Giuseppe La Gala who, during his welcome address underlined the strategic role of prevention and repression of crimes in the environmental and agro-food sectors with the aim of facilitating a remarkable and sustainable development in Italy, indicated that coordination and information exchange among all the bodies, institutions and industrial and agricultural contexts involved in this sector represent the starting point for an economic and social progress not only in Italy but also in the whole international scenario.
The importance of safeguarding legality in the employment of manpower, the increase in the number of police forces’s members employed in such sensitive sectors, the defense of the excellence and distinctiveness of our products at international level by means of appropriate regulatory measures are some of the priority tools for the achievement of government goals.
The topics of this Seminar were analyzed by the following lecturers: the Scientific Coordinator of this event, Professor Marcella Trombetta, Head of the Department of Sciences and Technologies for the Sustainable Development and One Health at the Rome-based Campus Bio-Medico University, Carabinieri Corps Brigadier General Daniel Melis, Commander of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Agribusiness, Carabinieri Corps Brigadier General Valerio Giardina, Commander of the Carabinieri Command for the Environmental Protection and Green Transition, Mr. Luca Ramacci, President of the Third Section of the Court of Cassation, Lieutenent Colonel Sergio Tirrò, Head of the Anti-Counterfeiting Unit of Europol, former EnviCrime Leader and Professor Paolo Benanti of the Faculty of Theology – Department of Moral Theology of the Pontificia Università Gregoriana.
The importance of this event, which represented a special occasion for an exchange of experiences, was enhanced by the peculiar characteristics of the lecturers having different professional profiles (institutional, academic, social and operational profiles), in line with the learning method adopted by the Scuola di Perfezionamento, based on a multidisciplinary approach which focuses on different perspectives related to all the actors involved in the complex security system.
