Feb. 25 – A tool against Italian sounding in Germany: from now on, there is an association created by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Munich, together with Confagricoltura. In Germany, consumption of Italian goods is high, but so is consumption of fake and counterfeit products, especially in the food sector. The Italian Chambers decided to combat this type of offense by using German laws already in place. As a matter of fact, German law provides for the protection of Italian sounding exclusively by civil law, and only one category of associations can act against these illegal practices: the Chambers of commerce, consumer associations or private associations representing a significant number of entrepreneurs. From here stems the idea of creating an association. “This initiative of the Italian system, actively pursued by two Italian Chambers of Commerce in Germany (which are institutions under German law recognized by the Italian State), under the direction of the Italian Embassy in Berlin,” said the president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce Emanuele Gatti in Frankfurt, “wants to protect small and medium-sized Italian companies.” The small producers are the ones that lose the most from the Italian sounding phenomenon, “because they lose their advantage and their specificity and have to fight against the German chains that make Italian-sounding products,” confirmed Rodolfo Dolce, vice president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt.
