Italy has tightened regulation of its fresh fruit and vegetables sector to prevent a repeat of the soaring prices seen after drought and ice destroyed crops, a senior government official said this week.
Gianpaolo Dozzo, Under-Secretary for Agriculture announced that the government has set up a new watchdog in co-operation with consumer, farm and wholesale groups to monitor fresh food prices along the chain from producer to retailer.
He said the market was beginning to fall after the spikes in prices of peppers, aubergines, courgettes and other fresh produce in recent days, triggered by shortages caused by the bad weather.
Farm groups say a combination of two months of drought in the north of Italy and weeks of freezing weather in the centre-south have cut fresh vegetable production by 55-65 per cent, depriving some markets of produce.
Most fresh vegetables sold in Italy are grown domestically. Prices of some produce had risen by as much as 330 per cent since temperatures fell in December, and consumer and farm groups have blamed wholesalers, saying they have been creaming off higher profits than normal.
Government officials, including Farm Minister Giovanni Alemanno, have said some of the price rises were not justified. "More self-regulation is needed in the fresh fruit and vegetables sector," Dozzo said. "There are indications that some prices have started to fall slowly. A few days or a week will be needed before we see a stabilization of the market," he added.
He hoped stronger self-regulation in the industry would create more price transparency and better traceability of produce. The under-secretary also said that the recent climbs in fruit and vegetable prices were likely to have a "small impact" on Italy's January consumer price inflation.
Italian farm groups are urging the government to pay compensation from a state disaster fund because of the damage done by drought and ice to fruit and vegetable plantings.
Italy's biggest farm association Coldiretti estimates farmers' losses since the cold spell began in December at 250 million euros (US$ 219 million), and the Confederation of Italian Farmers puts the figure at 300 million.