ROME--Italy's new Minister of Agriculture Giovanni Alemanno, who was an unlikely appointee for his position because of his limited background in the sector, has wasted no time in speaking out on environmental and food safety-related issues. Alemanno was named to the agriculture minister post by new Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was elected. Alemanno, Berlusconi, and the rest of the new government were sworn in June 11.

Alemanno, known as a conservative on economic issues and more of a centrist on social issues, has held a wide array of governmental and nongovernmental posts dealing with trade unions, labor, and industry. He was considered a dark horse candidate to become Italy's minister of industry in the new government, but that position instead went to economist Antonio Marzano, the expected choice.

What was less expected was Alemanno's appointment as minister of agriculture.

"A lot of people interpreted Alemanno's appointment as meaning the ministry was being de-emphasized in a way," Roberto Power, a leading political commentator, told BNA on June 22.

But the 43-year-old Alemanno has taken strides since taking office to show that is not the case. In his first statements after being sworn in, Alemanno said he was not ideologically opposed to the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, but he said he had a "negative view" of the technology's place in Italian agriculture.

"Food in a country like Italy should be free of genetic manipulation," he said in public statements after the swearing in ceremony.

In later comments, Alemanno vowed to continue most aspects of the policies held by his Green Party predecessor Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, who vigorously opposed the sowing of genetically modified seeds in open Italian fields. Under Pecoraro Scanio, Italy's GMO-related rules took their place among the toughest in the industrialized world.

A Wider Role for Agriculture Ministry

A spokesman for Alemanno told BNA June 25 that the minister also planned to raise the visibility of Italian agriculture in EU farm policy talks and during July's Group of Eight Summit in Genoa, Italy. Other key issues for the ministry will be food quality issues and transportation-related problems. "The minister's plan is to widen the ministry's role and increase the areas where it can be an effective agent," said the spokesman, who added that a more detailed plan would be released as part of the government's official statement of policy in July.

According to Renato Levi, a policy expert at RCM, a Rome think tank, Alemanno's actions could have an impact for years.

"We are in a period where technology is playing an increasing role in agriculture, and the new government's policies in these areas will set a precedent that will impact Italian policy for many years," Levi told BNA on June 25.

Altero Matteoli, Italy's new environment minister, has been less visible since being sworn in. Although he is a known skeptic regarding the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming, statements on that subject have generally been made by Berlusconi, who originally expressed doubts about the beleaguered treaty and then said he would back the EU's pro-Kyoto stance (24 INER 515, 6/20/01).

Matteoli himself has issued no public statements on Kyoto or any other environmental issue, and his office did not return phone calls seeking comment about his ministry's plans.

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