A/HRC/43/44/Add.5 B. National level 10. The Constitution of Italy does not explicitly recognize the right to adequate food. However, this right has been protected through broader human rights principles, as well as through adherence to the international treaties that Italy has signed and ratified. Article 117.1 of the Constitution recognizes that international human rights treaties have primacy over national legislation. This implies that the right to food could be applicable even if the Constitution did not include a direct reference to it. 11. The Constitution contains other pertinent provisions in order to realize the right to adequate food, such as article 32 on the right to health, article 36 on the right to work, and article 38 on the right to social protection and assistance. However, it is highly recommended to have an explicit provision to ensure that rights holders can access justice in case of a violation of their right to food. 12. Although there is no framework law on the right to food at the national level, Italy has several sectoral laws relevant to agriculture, rural development and food safety, as well as European Union legislation. C. Regional and local levels 13. In Italy, legislative power is co-exercised by the State and the regions. The implementation of the right to food is closely linked to the actions of all levels of authority, from the State to the city councils (art. 117 of the Constitution). These multiple levels of implementation could have a positive impact by bringing flexibility to regions and local authorities so they can go beyond national policies and principles. The downside of this system is the loss of the necessary united policies, given the development of diverse economies and food systems in different regions. 14. The Human Rights Council highlighted the fact that the principle of shared responsibility requires strong coordination (see A/HRC/30/49). Furthermore, in its general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted that States parties should take steps to ensure coordination between ministries and regional and local authorities in order to reconcile related policies with the obligations under article 11 of the Covenant (para. 12). However, in Italy there is a lack of coordination among authorities and a lack of integration of regional policies, and no regional food council has been established to promote the right to food. 15. Having city-level policies on the right to food was actively promoted during Expo 2015, held in Milan with the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life”. The right to food was promoted as the philosophical foundation of the event, to avoid the wholly commercial meaning of expos. 16. In 2015, the Regional Council of Lombardy passed a law on the recognition, protection and promotion of the right to food. Two other regions (Piedmont and Abruzzo) amended their regional charters to introduce a reference to the right to food, and several city councils began the discussion of implementing urban and metropolitan food policies. 1 17. Milan was also one of the first cities in Italy to adopt a food policy, which is considered to be a good example of a metropolitan food policy, obtained through coordination between the city council and the main food actors. The five-year plan was launched in 2015, encompassing several important food-related social, economic, environmental and cultural dimensions. 18. Yet, according to civil society organizations, neither the plan nor its implementation further applied a human rights-based approach. The food council has still not been operational and there is little evidence of interactions with peri-urban and rural areas. Moreover, the effectiveness of the food policy of Milan was challenged by the conflict of competence between State, regional and local authorities in some crucial areas (such as 1 T. Ferrando and others, The Right to Food in Italy between Present and Future (2018), pp. 11 and 14. 3