A/HRC/42/44/Add.1 rights 2016–2021 recognizes the need to end the caporalato system and all forms of illegal exploitation of migrant workers as part of the commitment to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals and in particular goal 8 and target 8.7, which involve promoting decent work as an antidote to modern slavery. Equality counsellors promote equal opportunities in the workplace at the regional, provincial and national level. 32. At the time of the visit, the Government was reviewing the national action plan against human trafficking and serious exploitation 2016–2018 and a follow-up plan was being developed. 33. Following the visit, a pilot memorandum of understanding was signed by the Ministers of Labour and the Interior and by the presidents of the five regions in southern Italy most affected by the caporalato system. Through a joint partnership and strengthened cooperation at the regional level, holistic reception programmes have been set up, but implementation remains pending. The Government has recently reactivated a multistakeholder platform to address labour exploitation in agriculture more effectively. It aims to establish a three-year action plan involving key stakeholders. The regional government of Apulia adopted a decision on an innovative form of agriculture, the foltore farms. Under this model, workers receive free accommodation, look after 20 hectares of land and receive the harvest, thus rendering them self-sufficient. The pilot project was launched in 2016 and its outcome was being evaluated at the time of the visit. 34. An inter-institutional Committee was established by article 25-quater of Law 136. The Committee is responsible for the development and implementation of a national plan to combat labour exploitation in agriculture through different areas of intervention. 35. The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union has provided unequal support to the agricultural sector in Italy, favouring mainly northern regions, large farms and the food industry.15 Consequently, producers have been expected to outbid each other by lowering the price of their products, with the result that labour costs have been cut by employing a cheap workforce. As was reported to the Special Rapporteur, since many rural areas in Italy have been affected by depopulation and abandonment, migrants have increasingly responded to the demand for low-cost and flexible labour. 36. Italy has yet to establish a national human rights institution in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights. The process of establishing such an institution continues to stagnate but the Special Rapporteur hopes for prompt progress in this regard. Government measures adopted in 2019 are not reflected in the present report. 16 IV. Main findings A. Causes of labour exploitation in the agricultural sector in Italy 37. A number of structural factors which put already vulnerable individuals at risk of being subjected to labour exploitation in agriculture lead to forced labour or to slavery-like conditions. In particular, the systemic prevalence of the caporalato system, consisting of illegal recruitment through gangmasters, opens the door to exploitation and abuse. The caporalato is historically and socially anchored in the countryside of Italy as a form of irregular and anomalous organization of the agricultural labour market. Based on reports, the system is currently applied in the whole country and not restricted to the south. 38. The caporalato is not limited to agriculture, but that is reportedly the sector most affected by it. The types of exploitation are complex and manifold and the consequence of several factors. Intermediaries who may or may not be connected to organized crime act as a link between agricultural entrepreneurs and workers. 15 16 See Franco Sotte, “Sessant’anni di Europa e Pac: il nuovo che c’è e il vecchio che è rimasto”, Agriregionieuropa, No. 50 (September 2017). For further information, see the comments provided by Italy. 7