Reminder to the Government
The recognized hunting associations Federcaccia, Enalcaccia, Arcicaccia, ANLC, ANUUM Migratoristi, Italcaccia, and the CNCN - National Hunting and Nature Committee, gathered together in the control room of the hunting world, once again urge the Government to give an answer on the major critical issues contained in the Regulation on ban on lead in wetlands imminent entry into force. After waiting in vain for a confrontation with the previous executive repeatedly requested, he hopes that the current government will pay greater attention to a topic that is anything but secondary for a large number of Italian citizens.
The main criticalities
Commission Regulation 2021/57 of 25 January 2021 aims to ban the use of lead-based broken ammunition within Wetlands. The regulation will enter into force at national level on 15 February 2023 and, unfortunately, the rule still presents several problems from the point of view of its applicability. Since its publication, the undersigned associations, together with the industrial and sports associations, have highlighted to the competent Ministries of the REACH Help desk Italy the major criticalities identified in the text of the Regulation, which could create significant application problems.
The problems to deal with
We summarize them briefly: The Regulation's definition of "wetlands" is much broader than that provided by existing national laws, including for example all peatlands with and without visible water and potentially covering any water temporarily present on the ground, following heavy rains. Hunters need clear guidance on how to interpret the standard, in order to, for example, assess how to treat small areas of temporary water and define the constituent elements of a bog (including forestry on peat soil). An aggravating element is that all wetlands have a fixed buffer zone of 100 metres. It is forbidden to shoot lead shot in or within 100 meters of wetlands, regardless of the species being hunted. This can generate enormous problems, if we consider the definition of "wetlands" just mentioned. Finally, the proposal envisages - a principle that is already extremely serious in a democratic system - the presumption of guilt for hunters/shooters, possibly found to be in possession of a cartridge containing lead, even simply forgotten by mistake among the others, not only in hunting but also only while crossing any area falling under the definition of "wet".
The need for a work table
The proposal, therefore, automatically criminalizes hunters (who would have to demonstrate their intention not to shoot) and this presumption of guilt is clearly contrary to the fundamental principles of law, also providing for penal sanctions. Although the regulation is directly applicable and does not require transposition at national level, as already mentioned, the sector associations have been signaling for over a year and a half, and therefore also to the previous government, the need to organize a working table with the institutions authorities (led by MITE), to investigate the national implementation of the legislation and overcome the critical issues of its prescriptions. The undersigned associations trust that the Government has understood the application risks of the Regulation and ask the competent Ministries to intervene before 15 February next with a provision that addresses and resolves the critical points linked to the transposition of the European legislation on the ban on lead in the areas wetlands, to guarantee its correct and not unnecessarily punitive national execution to protect the interests of hunters, without losing the spirit of environmental protection which should be the basis of the law. The Control Room awaits a prompt and no longer postponeable discussion with the Government, offering as always the maximum collaboration for the best and non-prejudicial solution to the problem.