“It is a measure on transparency that regulates the behaviours of the Administration”, this declared the Minister for agricultural food and forestry policies Mario Catania, the 1st of February during the press conference presenting a measure that renders transparent the lobbies' participation at the dynamics preparatory to the decisional processes of the Ministry.

“It is a measure on transparency that regulates the behaviours of the Administration”, this declared the Minister for agricultural food and forestry policies Mario Catania, the 1st of February during a press conference presenting a measure that renders transparent the lobbies' participation at the dynamics preparatory to the decisional processes of the Ministry.

It is the first time that a Ministry implements a measure on the base of which lobby of the agri food industry will be censused and registered . The list of lobbyists will be published in the web site of the Ministry www.politicheagricole.it.
The measure “regulates –according to the Minister – the way in which the lobbyists must interact with the Public Administration.” The decree institutes a register of lobbyists and a unity on transparency. The last one, moreover, is at zero cost, in sense thatits members are the part of the this administration or, if external,will be non-paid consultants.

In conclusion the measure fixes barriers and stabilizes specific rules that lobbyists, in representation of different interest groups – consumers, environmentalists, farmers and others – must to follow in order to make theit voice heard when the Ministry intervenes on primary or secondary legislation in agri food industry. Minister Catania concluded, hoping that “other Ministries will follow the example of the Mipaaf and assure, in this way, that lobbyists are not only registered but also that their actions and of the Administrations as consequences, are even more transparent for citizens.”