Clarification of Made-outside-EU

Following the article published yesterday, 1 March, 2005, in the Gazzettino of Belluno, 'Eyewear outside Made in Italy' by Lauredana Marsiglia, the Associazione Nazionale Fabbricanti Articoli Ottici, Anfao, deems it necessary to point out that:

- Made in Italy exists and is governed by specific laws, and those who comply with the regulations currently in force may not be considered 'outside';
- Made-outside-EU is the point at issue (not Made-in-EU) and, to be even clearer, these regulations are strongly backed by the Government, by Confindustria and by many Italian associations which want goods that are produced entirely outside the European Community to obligatory carry a mark of origin when they are imported into Europe;
- Anfao represents over 100 Italian businesses in the sector, from the biggest to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and it has always been in the front line to defend 'Made in Italy' and all the values it stands for; it was also one of the main advocates for including eyewear in Made-outside-EU;
- Anfao has always been present and it has frequently promoted many actions and initiatives with the sole and strategic aim of protecting, supporting and promoting Made in Italy on the one hand, and of fighting against counterfeit Made in Italy on the other.

In the specific case of the European regulation regarding the mark of origin, and the Commission's proposal to mark goods coming from non-EU countries specifically, Anfao would like to underline some points concerning the statements made by the Mr. Fistarol:

- from the very beginning, Anfao is one of the associations which has, with commitment and resolution, promoted and insisted on the achievement of this type of measure through all the competent offices at national and European level:

1. Through Confindustria and through the special team at the Ministry for Manufacturing Activities headed by Deputy Minister Urso, lobbying, in an attempt to make the Commission at least put forward a proposal on the matter, has been steady and has achieved significant success if we consider that, just one year ago, there was nothing at all. When it was then clear that the approach adopted would be sector-based, parallel work began to include the eyewear sector, which again saw Confindustria and MAP as its fundamental allies.

2. Together with the other Made in Italy associations, consumers were also involved with regard to requirements for clarity and knowledge about the products on sale and aimed at higher protection for everyone; here, too, we have achieved significant success.

3. With no exact statement from the European Federation of Manufacturing Opticians, (Eurom1), Anfao sought to involve the European Council of Optometry and Optics (Ecoo), which formally requested the Commission to include eyewear, and this was initially achieved
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- Aimed at including the above-mentioned sectors in the bill, the European Commission, Directorate General Trade, in compliance with consolidated legislative procedures, did take into account the proposals put forward by the European Federations for the sector and these were the subject of hearings. However, Eurom1 for eyewear expressed a contrary opinion, despite Anfao's opposition..

- It should be emphasized that the Commission did not even take into account the additional attempt made by Confindustria, whose Position Paper, on which Anfao had also worked, contemplated considering that the Italian production of eyewear is over 60% than the European production.

Therefore, we wish to point out that the 'lack of agreement between companies' referred to by Deputy Minister Urso is to be understood as a lack of agreement between European companies in the sector and not Italian companies, specifically.
The request put forward by Italian companies was initially met by the rest of the European industry with total indifference regarding the measures and subsequently with opposition, and this was pointed out at European level through Eurom1.

The request put forward by Mr Fistarol concerning the disclosure of 'names of the companies which caused the breakdown of the agreement', as per article in the Gazzettino, appears to be completely out of place if it is addressed to the Italian companies in the sector, which have always been united and in the front line for defending 'Made in Italy' and have always been in favor of measures that support and promote it.