A/HRC/43/44/Add.6 IV. Overview of the agriculture system 40. Currently, about 40% of Italy’s territory (127 079 km2) is used for agriculture. seed cultures, mainly cereals, occupy more than half of this surface (7.075.224ha), followed by pastures (3.346.951ha). Italy also features a highly diverse agricultural sector with considerable regional variation in terms of farm structures and production. However, the contribution of the agriculture sector to the country’s GDP remains very limited (1.94% in 2018)7. Comments: In this section, as reported in the note, it seems that there is no use of data available from the Italian Institute for Statistic (ISTAT). The surface used for agriculture indicated is not equal to the one of 12.598.161 hectares issued from ISTAT (updated to 2016). It is recommended to use official data (ISTAT). The contribution is not “limited”, in fact it is similar in other developed countries and is stable over time. 41. According to the performance of the agricultural sector in 2019, agriculture production decreased 1,3% in volume and the overall added value has also decreased by 2,7%. Efforts are being made to increase and strengthen the transformation and value addition industry of agricultural production: the total value of the annual transformed agricultural products amounts to 140 billion euros. The expansion of the value added for food, beverage and tobacco industries was robust in 2018, with an increase of 2.7% in volume and 2.9% expressed in current prices, a positive trend that has continued also in 2019. 8 Comments: Conjunctural data only show the high variability in the performance of the agricultural sector, that often suffers from climatic conditions and spread of disease. In addition, it must be noted that, not only in 2018 but also for some years, the agri-food industry represents one of the most performing sectors in the Italian industrial field. 42. Farmers are represented by several major organizations and trade unions, which serve as intermediaries between the farmers and the State. However, several meetings with farmers as well as agriculture researchers revealed that these organizations often fail to properly represent the needs of the farmers and reflect their voices into agricultural law and policy making. Comments: The draft report infers that “However, several meetings with farmers as well as agriculture researchers revealed that these organizations often fail to properly represent the needs of the farmers and reflect their voices into agricultural law and policy making…” . Unless such a categorical statement be supported by specific evidence, statistics or data, it is a mere conjecture and remains factually incorrect. The whole system of farmers’ representation and trade unions cannot be qualified as “often failing” unless the Rapporteur provides clear and convincing evidence. The public should be cautioned before being presented with unsubstantiated statements, not supported by exhaustive analysis, in-depth consideration, and definitely not at the level of a United Nations report. The report fails to acknowledge that cooperatives of agriculture workers are extremely common in Italy, with over 50% of the overall representation in fundamental sectors such as wineries, dairy (milk and cheese) or fruit and vegetables. Farmers’ representation is extremely structured covering different levels and it is widely consulted by public institutions. 7 8 6 Statista (2018), available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/270481/distribution-of-gross-domesticproduct-gdpacross-economic-sectors-in-italy/ . ISTAT (2020) Stima preliminare dei conti economici dell’agricoltura, anno 2019 – available at https://www.istat.it/it/files//2020/01/Report_Stima_prelim_andamento_economia_agricola-1.pdf .