"... The new rules state that all such products marketed in Italy, including intermediate products, must bear: "clear, concise and specific information on the conformity of the manufacturing processes with the rules in force on labour matters, guaranteeing compliance the conventions signed with the International Labour Organization throughout the supply chain with regard to the certification on hygiene and product safety, the exclusion of child labour from the production process, consistency with EU regulations and conformity with international agreements on environmental matters."

However, this rule (which holds for all products marketed in Italy, irrespective of their origin) is clearly contrary to EU law, since it violates Article 28(30) of the EC Treaty. Moreover, Article 1 of the new law states that the words 'made in Italy' cannot be used unless two stages of the manufacturing process take place in Italy and (implicitly) that to this purpose the last of these stages is not necessarily included, while the EU Customs Code provides that:

"goods wholly obtained in a single country or territory shall be regarded as having their origin in that country or territory. Goods the production of which involved more than one country or territory shall be deemed to originate in the country or territory where they underwent their last substantial transformation."

Furthermore, the new law makes use of the 'made in Italy' indication conditional on the traceability of the other stages - a requirement that also appears in the code.

Conflict between a national rule and an EU norm is likely to expose Italy to an infringement procedure under Articles 226 to 228 of the treaty. The Italian legislature is well aware that the issue is specifically a matter for the EU legislature, and that the European Commission is discussing a 2005 proposal for a regulation on obligatory origin labelling for certain categories of product from outside the European Union.

The new norms are also clearly unconstitutional on grounds of inequality, since they impose rules applicable in Italy on the use of the indication 'made in Italy', but not on indications such as 'made in France' or 'made in Germany'.

The fact that the new provision is scheduled to enter into force in October 2010, instead of the usual 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette, should allow the EU authorities to express their own opinion. It is to be hoped that these rules will not even come into force".