Giuridico e Amministrativo

🎭 In Rome, on March 6, 2025, ANAC confirmed simplified rules for micro-procurement allowing purchases up to €5,000 without MEPA, valid until June 30, 2025. This affects 250 amusement and theme parks, which host approximately 600,000 youths annually for educational trips and summer camps, as well as cinemas, theaters, museums, and schools. The previous platform requirement since 2023 complicated purchasing for small acquisitions. The parks' sector, with a yearly business value of €15 million, benefits from reduced bureaucratic burden. Contacts: Tiziana Pini (392 8084857), Carlo Menegazzi (338 8525200), Press Office (02 43981646).

🍷 In response to climate change, France's historic wine regions are exploring grape variety modifications to sustain wine quality. Bordeaux researchers have evaluated 26 red varieties for potential inclusion in classic Bordeaux blends, notably Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. Five candidates, including Fer Servadou, Duras, Manseng Noir, Vinhão, and Arinarnoa, could be added at 10% or 30% without significantly affecting wine typicality, except for Vinhão, which reduces typicality at higher proportions. Two sensory analysis tests with professional judges assessed the impact on Bordeaux wine typicality, considering strict regulatory varietal combinations for production. This research marks a step towards potentially introducing alternative non-native varieties to Bordeaux, with further studies needed on aging effects and vintage variations.

🍽 Chef Alessandro Borghese's restaurant "AB – Il lusso della semplicità" in Venice offers a special dish named "Madame" available until March 9, celebrating International Women's Day and featuring celeriac, glazed eel, marrow, turnip tops, saffron, and licorice. The dish honors women, especially those contributing talent and passion to his Venice and Milan restaurants. Additionally, a temporary exhibition, Wonderland by artist Silvia Pujatti, adds vibrancy to the venue with colorful and joyful representations of female strength and elegance, reflecting the Venetian painting tradition with a contemporary twist.

📂 In the hospitality sector, the GDPR, enforced in 2018, regulates personal data management in the EU, requiring clear consent, offering right to erasure, and mandating Data Protection Officers (DPO) for larger facilities as per Italy's Privacy Code (D.Lgs. 196/2003) and guidelines by the Italian Data Protection Authority. Safe check-in practices include minimal data collection, informed consent, and robust digital security. Advanced technologies like digital check-in platforms enhance data protection. Remote self check-in systems, while ensuring better privacy compliance, also streamline the guest experience. Ok Home provides a secure, efficient self check-in solution with custom passwords, integrated privacy notices, and autonomous check-in, adhering to GDPR and Italian privacy laws.

🍺 Swinkels Family Brewers, a 7-generation Dutch family brewery, has been present in Italy for over 35 years and made its first participation at the Beer&Food Attraction. Roberta Gambino, Swinkels' marketing manager for Italy, introduced a range of Dutch, Belgian, and Scottish beers, including La Trappe, Estaminet, Cornet, Rodenbach, Steen Brugge, Uiltje, and Brewdog, which Swinkels distributes nationwide. Newly presented were Uiltje's Juici Lucy, a NEIPA, and Brewdog's Black Heart, a dark beer. Dieter Lauwers of La Trappe revealed two non-alcoholic beers, La Trappe Nillis (dark) and La Trappe Epos (blond), as the first non-alcoholic options from a Trappist brewery, plus an upcoming special edition of La Trappe Blonde.

🍓 Valfrutta, a renowned brand in the Italian agri-food sector since the 1970s, has been registered in the "Registro speciale dei Marchi Storici di Interesse Nazionale" by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. Conserve Italia's cooperative consortium proudly acknowledges all five of its key brands as historic trademarks: Cirio, Yoga, Derby Blue, Jolly Colombani, and Valfrutta. President Maurizio Gardini emphasizes Valfrutta's essence representing cooperative agriculture and Italian quality since its logo's creation in 1972. In the Italian market, Valfrutta is among the top 20 consumer brands and offers a range of products, including fruit juices, vegetable preserves, tomato products, and fresh produce. General Director Pier Paolo Rosetti highlights Valfrutta's credibility, Italian authenticity, and traceability. Valfrutta's history dates back to 1966 with CALPO's establishment, the 1972 logo launch, the pivotal formation of Conserve Italia in 1976, a new slogan in 1987, and an updated logo in 1994 to honor its 100% Italian cooperative supply chain.

📰 Italy's "credito d’imposta 2025" encourages companies to increase advertising investments in newspapers and periodicals, including online, offering a 75% tax credit on incremental investments. Applications must be submitted by March 31 via the Agenzia delle Entrate's online service. The credit, introduced by Decree Law n. 50/2017 in 2018, experienced changes including a temporary Covid-19 amendment. From 2023, it requires a minimum 1% increase over the previous year's investments, capped at €30 million annually. The credit is exclusively used in compensation by presenting form F24 with code "6900".

🌱 Mars, in partnership with Fonterra, commits $27 million over five years to promote sustainable agricultural solutions in the dairy sector, targeting a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 2015 levels. The "Farmer Forward" program will allocate half of the investment to provide tech solutions for about 2,000 Fonterra farmers, with the remaining funds incentivizing 165 top-performing farmers annually with an average of $15,000 each. Covering 26,000 hectares, equivalent to 50,000 NFL fields, the initiative aims to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 150,000 metric tons by 2030, contributing to Mars' broader Net Zero emissions goal by 2050.

📦 MartinoRossi SpA, an Italian company specializing in gluten-free, allergen-free, and non-GMO flours and plant-based products, will participate in four international fairs in March: Expo West in Anaheim, USA (5-7 March), Food Expo Greece in Athens (8-10 March), HIP Madrid in Spain (10-12 March), and Foodex Tokyo in Japan (11-14 March). They will showcase their Beamy and Goodly ranges, Mr. Beans, and MartinoRossi Professional products, including new offerings like gluten-free natural plant protein powders and a new chickpea-based chocolate spread. Founded in the 1950s, MartinoRossi now serves major international food groups and is a leader in food sector research and innovation. For more information, visit https://www.martinorossispa.it/.

🍪 Brussels opts against adopting the Nutriscore, a traffic light nutritional labeling system used in France and Belgium, which requires the support of at least 15 EU countries, representing 65% of the EU population for EU-wide adoption. Countries like Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Spain, and Poland oppose Nutriscore, surpassing the blocking minority needed to stop a proposal. The system is criticized for potentially misleading consumers, for example, by labeling olive oil as unhealthy based on fat content per 100 grams without considering typical usage quantities. The EU continues to seek a fair and personalized nutritional labeling system.