Born within the USA: Italy’s curious bresaola pitch to dodge US tariffs 

Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida has backed a plan to make Italian bresaola utilizing U.S. beef and ship it again to America – a proposal that grabbed headlines however seems to breach EU commerce guidelines. 

On the coronary heart of the story is the bresaola, a prized Italian cured meat produced from salted, air-dried beef, which holds Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) standing. 

Round 90% of the meat presently used within the manufacturing of this well-known Italian specialty comes from South America – primarily zebu cattle from Brazil and Uruguay – chosen for his or her high quality and dependable provide. 

Within the broader context of ongoing commerce tensions, EU farmers’ opposition to the Mercosur settlement, and US stress on the EU to scale back its commerce surplus, Lollobrigida floated an concept that shortly went viral. 

“If the US provides us beef to make bresaola, we will then re-export it. That’s a binding settlement which permits us to import extra meat from the US,” he stated earlier this week.

The suggestion drew a mixture of confusion and mock, prompting Lollobrigida to later make clear  that the proposal didn’t originate from him personally, however was shared with him by business stakeholders. 

“I’m simply relaying it,” he advised Italian media. 

Towards EU guidelines

However there’s a catch. Authorized specialists warn that such a transfer could also be incompatible with EU regulation. 

Mariagrazia Alabrese, professor of agri-food regulation on the Sant’Anna College of Superior Research in Pisa, advised Euractiv that Italy can’t unilaterally enter into such an settlement with america.  

Below the EU Treaties, she defined, commerce coverage is an unique competence of the European Union. “If all 27 EU member states began hanging particular person offers, the concept of a single market would collapse,” she stated.  

Below present commerce agreements, she added, only meat from accepted international locations and amenities complying with EU restrictions – for instance, on hormones and coverings like chlorine washes – can be utilized in meals manufacturing throughout the bloc, even when the product is solely for export.

“The EU merely can’t import that sort of US beef,” she concluded, arguing {that a} bilateral EU-US settlement would nonetheless should adjust to all current EU meals security legal guidelines.

Nevertheless, for Davide Calderone, director of the Italian meat processing affiliation ASSICA, Lollobrigida’s suggestion is nothing new– and is possible.

“If we import the meat below a re-export situation, a devoted process would have to be established – accepted at EU stage – to make sure that none of it enters the interior market,” he stated. 

He referred to as the usage of American beef an “opening” at a time of advanced negotiation on tariffs.

“It may also profit US producers by giving them entry to the Italian market”, he concluded. 

(cs, adm, aw)