Pizza is one of the most famous food products in the world that’s “Made in Italy,” and one of the most important symbols of Italy.
The falsification of “made in Italy’s” food products, a phenomenon called “Italian sounding”, is expanding rapidly, producing enormous damage to the Italian economy and, according to latest estimates, causing the loss of over 300,000 jobs. Revenue from false “Made in Italy” advertising — considering only the food sector — has exceeded 60 billion euro, a really significant economic damage.
Italy is represented around the world through “the art of pizza,” and it is an intangible asset that deserves recognition by UNESCO. The Neapolitan pizza is the only type of Italian pizza recognized at national and European level. Since February 2010, in fact, Neapolitan pizza is officially recognized as a “Traditional Speciality Guaranteed of the European Community.”
It is right that Italy proposes to UNESCO headquarters the inclusion of the “Art of Pizza” in the “Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.”
Recognition by UNESCO would protect the pizza and the economy associated with it from false advertising and the phenomenon of “Italian sounding.” Recognizing “the art of pizza” is an opportunity to safeguard what is truly made in Italy.
In March 2011 we presented a dossier for the recognition of “the art of Pizza” to the Secretariat of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Paris. But in 2012, UNESCO changed the procedure for recognition, so we are still waiting for their review.
In the first months of the year (usually in March), the Council of the Italian National Commission indicates the candidacy for the following year.
I therefore ask that in early 2015, on the eve of the opening of the Expo in Milan, the Italian Commission for UNESCO proposes the inclusion of “the Art of Pizza” in the “Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage”.
It is a tradition born in Naples, which has been handed down for generations, which has spread throughout Italy and that is now a true symbol of Italy in the world.
On 16 November 2010, the Intergovernmental Committee meeting in Nairobi officially entered the Mediterranean diet in the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO.” Pizza, for the processing method and the traditional ingredients, is certainly a healthy product and typically Mediterranean.
This petition is addressed at the many Italians and non-Italians who love pizza all across our planet. “The art of pizza” should receive the prestigious and deserved UNESCO recognition. We defend the “made in Italy” name and the economy tied to our food traditions.
Please, Help us to voting for this Petition! Thank You.