On August 29, 2020, Decree July 23, 2020 was published in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic, on the establishment of the revolving pledge on agricultural and food products with a protected denomination of origin and a protected geographical indication, by way of implementation of Sec. 78, Paragraphs 2-duodecies, 2-terdecies and 2-quaterdecies of Law April 24, 2020, n. 27 (so-called
"Cura Italia").
The scope of the Decree concerns all agricultural and food products,
"DOP" (Origin Designation Protected) and
"IGP" (Geografical Origin Protected), thus including wine products, wine-based beverages, spirits and balsamic vinegars. The products concerned may be pledged, starting from the day on which the product units are placed in the production and/or storage premises. The pledged products can be subject to a rotation pact; the revolving pledge is made by replacing the pledged product units (e.g. product in the course of ageing), without the need for further stipulations.
Some prescriptions concern the management of the pledged product. In the case of wine products and olive oil:
(a)the containers in which the products identified as revolving pledge are contained must be used exclusively to contain the wines which are pledged and the relevant alphanumeric identification code must be indicated in an electronic register; and
(b)any movement of a pledged product into another vessel must be recorded in the register and previously communicated to the financing bank and to the relating supervisory authority; and
(c)the total or partial extinction of the pledge on the products is recorded in the electronic register.
For the other products, the creditor shall record the pledge on a register stamped by the notary annually and kept by the debtor.
The revolving pledge is an innovative form of financing particularly suitable for foods that require time to complete the production cycle such as the aging of wines, the maturing of cheeses or the refinement of cold cuts. According to reports in the specialized press, many Italian consortia for the protection of the product have already entered into agreements with banking groups in their respective territories using the instrument of the revolving pledge.
