The Council of Ministers has approved, in preliminary examination, a draft law to enhance the value of the Italian horticultural sector.
The objective of the draft law is to create a coherent and organic regulatory framework for the cultivation, promotion, marketing, enhancement and increase of quality and use of products from the flower-growing sector and the related supply chain.
The norm provides for a discipline of the articulation of the production chain, one that comprises the agricultural activities and those of support to the production, as a punctual definition of the floriculture agricultural activity.
In order to identify the policy measures for the sector, national coordination is envisaged, with the five-year elaboration of a Plan as a policy and strategic tool to launch innovative actions for the communication and promotion of products, for the competitiveness and development of floriculture companies.
It is planned to establish logistical platforms for macro-areas (north, central, south and islands) in order to ensure the distribution/ handling of the production of the horticultural sector to the European Union and third countries.
The definition of professional roles working in the horticultural sector, including urban and peri-urban green areas, parks, and historic gardens, providing for their inclusion in the classification system of ISTAT professions and the activation of further training courses at Its Academy.
According to the estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture, the floriculture sector in Italy is worth over 2.5 billion euros and employs over 100,000 workers in 27,000 companies.