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A Ban on Many Italian Pork Products Will Be Relaxed A Ban on Some Italian Cured Meat Is Ending
(about 20 hours later)
The United States Department of Agriculture will relax a decades-long ban on the importation of many Italian cured-pork meat products from some regions of Italy starting May 28, including sought-after staples such as salami. The United States Department of Agriculture will relax a decades-long ban on the importation of many cured-pork products from some regions of Italy starting May 28, greatly increasing the number and variety of salumi in markets and restaurants here.
On Friday, the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services announced that an in-country assessment had determined that four regions and two provinces of Italy are free of swine vesicular disease, a dangerous communicable ailment that infects pigs, and that “the importation of pork or pork products from these areas presents a low risk.” On Friday, the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services announced that an in-country assessment had determined that four regions and two provinces in Northern Italy are free of swine vesicular disease, a dangerous communicable ailment that infects pigs, and that “the importation of pork or pork products from these areas presents a low risk.”
Some pork importers and producers welcomed the changes, saying they would allow more Italian cured-pork products to make their way to American tables. But many were unable to judge the scope of the ruling because the Inspection Services did not specify what standards would now have to be met by Italian producers, nor the expense of meeting them. The agency did not immediately provide more details about its decision. Some pork importers and producers, in this country and in Italy, celebrated the changes, saying they would allow more Italian cured-pork products to make their way to American tables.
“Once this rule is in effect, imports will be approved,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the Inspection Services, referring to the May 28 date, “but some individual shipments may need to be certified in the future.” Since the ban, believed to have been in effect since at least the 1960s after a series of European livestock diseases, some cured pork products were still imported from Italy if they were inspected and certified according to stringent standards. But only certain producers could afford the expense of trying to win certification. It is unclear how certification methods will change as a result of Friday’s ruling. But others were unable to judge the ultimate impact of the ruling because the Inspection Services did not specify what standards would now have to be met by Italian producers, nor the expense of meeting them. Despite repeated requests, the agency did not immediately provide more details about its decision.
“Many artisanal salamis will still not be able to come in from Italy because they can’t spend the money for certification — possibly $100,000,” said Marc Buzzio, the president of Salumeria Biellese, a New Jersey producer of artisanal salamis and charcuterie products. He said large-commodity Italian salami producers would be more able to afford the importation process. “Once this rule is in effect, imports will be approved,” said Lyndsay Cole, a spokeswoman for the Inspection Services, referring to the May 28 date, “but some individual shipments may need to be certified in the future.”
Nevertheless, some Italian farmers and importers were jubilant. “This is a momentous event,” an Italian importation association, Assica, said in a statement, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, adding that it was the result of 15 years of work in lobbying the American government. Presently, only about half of Italy’s wide variety of cold cuts are approved for import into the United States, according to Italy’s Association of Meat and Cold Cuts Producers. “Up until now, we could only export seasoned ham, for example, like Parma and San Daniele, and cooked ham or mortadella,” said Davide Calderone, the association’s director.
A farmers’ organization, Coldiretti, said the ban had cost Italian salami producers $325 million in yearly export revenues, according to ANSA. “We will soon be able to export pancetta, salami, coppa — potentially all the Italian cold cuts with no exception,” he added, estimating that this could mean an increase of $9 million to $13 million a year in Italian cold cuts exported to the United States, now put at $90 million.
The areas in Italy where the salami importation ban will be relaxed include the regions of Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte, as well as the provinces of Trento and Bolzano. According to Friday’s ruling, the areas where the salami ban will be relaxed include the regions of Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte, and the provinces of Trento and Bolzano, all in the north. Mr. Calderone said that those regions include some of the country’s most productive slaughterhouses, which will now be able to gain United States certification. “Americans will finally enjoy ‘antipasto all’Italiana’ at its fullest extent,” he said.
If artisanal salami is approved for importation, “it could open up a new world of Italian salami to the United States,” said Joseph Bastianich, an owner of the high-end Eataly grocery stores in the United States. “Americans have been eating bad salami forever,” he said. “But now the end is near.” But American cold-cuts producers were skeptical, saying that although the Agriculture Department announced a reduction in the threat of swine vesicular disease, “Italian producers will still have to meet U.S.D.A. guidelines for listeria, salmonella and E. coli,” said Marc Buzzio, the president of Salumeria Biellese, a New Jersey producer of artisanal salamis and charcuterie products. “Only certain processing plants in Italy meet the U.S.D.A. guidelines, and those are associated with the larger producers.”
The relaxation of the ban could be “a game changer for the commercial producers of salami in the United States,” Mr. Buzzio said, “since the Italian commercial product will have the buzz behind it.” He added: “Now, more cold cuts will be coming in, but the question is, will it be a better product than that of artisanal producers in the United States?”
George Faison, a partner at DeBragga and Spitler, a meat and poultry retailer, said that the Italian regions specified by the Agriculture Department produce some of the best salami in the world, but that the American importation standards “will determine the quality of what comes over from Italy.” Since the ban, believed to have been in effect at least since the 1970s after a series of European livestock diseases, Mr. Buzzio estimated that certification for Italian producers cost as much as $100,000, a price beyond many artisanal producers, he said.
He said that in the long run, a future increase in Italian imports “won’t harm United States artisanal producers, because it will show Americans just how good the quality of their own producers has become.” If indeed artisanal salami is approved for importation, “it could open up a new world of Italian salami to the United States,” said Joseph Bastianich, an owner of the Eataly grocery stores in the United States. “Americans have been eating bad salami forever, but now the end is near.”
Other reaction was more cautious. “As an American, I welcome it with open arms,” said Pat LaFrieda, an owner of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors. “As long as the Italians import just as many American products.” There are restrictions on importing American beef and other meats to Italy. George Faison, a partner at DeBragga and Spitler, a New Jersey-based meat and poultry retailer, acknowledged that the Italian regions specified by the Agriculture Department produce some of the best salami in the world, but he said that the American importation standards “will determine the quality of what comes over from Italy.”
In recent years, the federal government has rescinded restrictions of the sale of some Italian cured meats, including varieties of prosciutto and mortadella. But if the relaxation of the ban permits more artisanal salami to be imported, it would also change a way of life for many delicacy-loving tourists and Italian-Americans, who have smuggled in Italian salamis for private consumption, and sometimes for sale, despite the vigilance of United States Customs and Homeland Security agents. A future increase in Italian imports, he added, “won’t harm United States artisanal producers, because it will show Americans just how good the quality of their own producers has become.”
Other reaction was more cautious. “As an American, I welcome it with open arms,” said Pat LaFrieda, an owner of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors in New Jersey, “as long as the Italians import just as many American products.” There are restrictions on exporting American beef and other meats to Italy.
If the government has indeed rescinded restrictions on the sale of imported Italian artisanal salami, it would also change a way of life for many delicacy-loving tourists and Italian-Americans, who have smuggled in Italian salamis for private consumption, and sometimes for sale.