On October 16th, Lombardy region and Lombardy Chamber of Commerce have launched their common initiative on promotion of European local food systems.
The regional food products are the result of the history and traditions of our regions. They represent a production sector of excellence and are able to attract tourists and promote local communities. In addition to the improvement of the quality of the products, regional food protection is a global challenge that we should face for the sustainability of the food chain.
The importance of this issue has been underlined by the presence of numerous institutional guests. The Ministry for agriculture of Lombardy Region, Gianni Fava, opened the discussion asking more actions at EU level to fight the fraud in the agri-food sector. Moreover, the EU Commissioner for Expo 2015, David Wilkinson, an Italian MEP of ENVI committee, Elisabetta Gardini, and the permanent representation of Italy contributed at the discussion.
During the event, Mr. Francesco Bettoni, President of Unioncamere Lombardia, presented a Position Paper on regional food systems protection and promotion. This document is the result of the contribution of several European Regions and Networks (ERRIN, Euromontana, KEN, AREPO, Città del bio and Purple) and will be addressed and presented to the European Commission during EXPO 2015 in Milan.
AREPO intervened in the round table together with the other involved networks to discuss about protection of the regional food products, consumer protection, research and innovation in the agro-food sector as a driver for competitiveness, growth and environmental sustainability.
