During an inspection, the Torre Annunziata Group Finance Police identified a well-known pasta factory belonging to the “Consortium for the Protection of Gragnano IGP Pasta” dedicated to the trade of pasta bearing the false Protected Geographical Indication “Pasta di Gragnano”.
The activity allowed to ascertain that the inspected company purchased large quantities of loose pasta mainly from an industrial pasta factory located in the municipality of Boscoreale. The product was then packaged and labeled as “Pasta di Gragnano”, in violation of the provisions of the production specifications issued by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, which establishes that the entire production and packaging cycle must take place within the territory of the Municipality of Gragnano.
In particular, over 400 packets of counterfeit pasta were found in the Gragnano pasta factory inside special Christmas packages ready for sale during the holidays. The pasta found was without the traditional bronze dies needed to produce some pasta shapes, and presented multiple and unjustified discrepancies between the production sheets found in the laboratories and the batches of pasta stored in the company warehouse. The circumstantial evidence was then corroborated by numerous purchase documents of product already processed by other pasta factories located outside the Gragnano area.
The Guardia di Finanza's activity has allowed a commercial fraud to be foiled. Activity carried out by the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Naples which, during the Christmas holidays, has intensified controls in the fight against commercial fraud and counterfeiting of protected geographical indications.
Article published on 9 December 2023 - 08:37
