The Tokyo summit featuring Francesco Lollobrigida, Italian Minister of Agricultural Policies, Gianluigi Benedetti, Italy’s Ambassador to Japan, Ryosuke Ogawa, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of Japan, Susumu Kataoka, President of JETRO, and Matteo Zoppas, President of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), brought into focus the pivotal themes of agri-food product preservation, quality assurance, and the combat against Italian-sounding and counterfeiting.
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Zoppas underscored, “ITA – Italian Trade Agency stands at the forefront in safeguarding the prestigious ‘Made in Italy’ label through targeted initiatives encompassing information dissemination, training, and initial support to businesses and entrepreneurs in the realm of intellectual property protection. Among our key endeavors is TrackIT, leveraging blockchain technology for seamless production chain tracking. A Coldiretti study pegs the value of Italian-sounding at a staggering 120 billion euros, while The European House-Ambrosetti’s research reveals that up to 70% of products on Japanese supermarket shelves carry names evoking Italy. A concerted effort is imperative to reclaim these losses and transform them into newfound opportunities for Italy’s flourishing agri-food sector.”
