Fifty millions to compensate the operators of the pig sector for the damage caused to their farms by the African swine fever: decided on ministry of agricultural policies with two specific funds: the "Fund of the capital part for structural and functional interventions in the field of biosecurity", with an endowment of 15 million euros for the year 2022 and the "Fund of the current part to support the pig sector" , with an endowment of 35 million euros for the year 2022. The funds were established in the Sostegni Ter decree just approved by the Draghi government. «We thank the government and Minister Patuanelli for showing the institutions' attention to the serious difficult situation experienced by Italian pig farming also due to the emergency of African swine fever found in wild animals in the north of the country - says Ruggero Lenti, president of Assica, the Italian charcuterie chain -.
This is an urgent intervention that allocates some primary resources both to strengthen the measures to combat the possible spread of the veterinary disease between animals and to try to guarantee compensation to companies in the supply chain that see their exports vanish due to the precautionary blocks on imports introduced by some non-European countries».
A first estimate of the damages drawn up by Assica attests to about 20 million euros per month industry losses; but if the situation were to worsen and the number of third countries that could introduce restrictions on our exports were to extend, the association warns, the damage would rapidly increase even beyond 60 million euros per month and in a period in which the costs of raw materials and energy costs already absorb resources more than normal, with the pandemic hardening its grip by restricting consumption, it is easy to understand how the balance for the stability of the sector and the supply chain is particularly at risk.
«We hope that the resources provided for by the decree can reach companies as quickly and effectively as possible, perhaps even increasing their endowment, so that - concludes Lenti - the relief is more felt by the companies in the sector that already support the heavy economic consequences of the current market scenario».