Industry News

The Italian Government has notified a draft decree - "Provisions for the Sale of Textile Products, Leather Goods and Footwear." According to the notification made to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on November 11, 2010, the decree will apply to textile products, leather goods and footwear as follows:

Article 1 of the decree details the information that must be contained in the specifications document supplied with finished and semi-finished products intended for sale (giving indications regarding each stage of manufacturing and compliance with the applicable national and international standards).

Article 2 lays down the requirements to be satisfied by finished products in the industries within the scope of application of the law in order to use the "Made in Italy" indication. The same article stipulates that in order to use the "Made in Italy" indication, the final substantial transformation of such products must take place in Italy.

Article 3 states that manufacturing phase tracking is considered verifiable if the manufacturer has documentation giving unequivocal proof of the location in which each stage is carried out and that, where there is insufficient evidence to verify a given phase, said phase shall be presumed carried out outside the country.

Article 4 assigns to the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Artisan Crafts and Agriculture (CCIAA) the task of performing checks on the correct labeling of products allowed onto the market and on the use of the "Made in Italy" indication. It appoints the CCIAA as the authority responsible for issuing the administrative fines pursuant to Law 55 of 2010 and for suspending the activities of manufacturing companies in the event of repeated violation. It clarifies that the checks provided for do not exclude all monitoring and control ordinarily carried out by the administrative police or customs checks, without any prejudice whatsoever thereto.
The proposed date of entry into force is January 1, 2011.

SOURCE: CLIA