In a nationwide operation called "Genuine Leather/Vero Cuoio (2023)," the Special Goods and Services Unit of the Guardia di Finanza seized more than 37,000 irregular products and reported 19 people to the relevant judicial authorities and Chambers of Commerce.
The operation, designed to prevent fraud in the tanning industry and ensure compliance with regulations on the use of the terms "leather," "skin," and "fur," identified manufacturers and distributors of products illegally sold as real leather or hide, but actually made from plastic materials, mainly from China. These included beds, headboards, sofas, upholstered chairs, belts, bags, wallets, jackets, gloves, and rolls of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) fabric marketed as "faux leather."
The underlying risk analysis of the operation, based on import and sales data extrapolated from the Corps' Information Technology Dorsal, identified violations in the provinces of Cuneo, Padua, Modena, Florence, Prato, Rome, Teramo, Naples, Bari and Catania, with Florence, Naples and Bari among the areas affected by fraud in the exercise of trade.
This verification of imports is essential to prevent the entry of unchecked foreign goods into Italy, which sometimes allow dishonest operators to market at high prices products that exploit the qualitative reputation of Made in Italy, but are made with cheap and shoddy materials.
The activities of the Special Component and the Territorial Component of the Guardia di Finanza, under the aegis of the General Command of the Corps, supported by the National Union of the Tanning Industry (UNIC) and the Experimental Station for the Leather and Tanning Material Industry, led to the seizure, in addition to the 37. 000 products, as well as a 200-square-meter factory, 4 quintals of leather and 765 linear meters of fake materials, and the reporting to the relevant offices of the Provincial Labor Directorate and the territorial offices of I.N.P.S. and I.N.A.I.L. of 5 "undeclared" workers, two of whom belonged to households receiving "Citizenship Income." An action that is part of the institutional strategy to prevent and combat counterfeiting, protect Made in Italy and ensure consumer safety.
The reported individuals, who have been active in the tanning industry for several years, are mainly of Italian origin and of Sinic ethnicity.
Criminal proceedings resulting from the activities are at the preliminary investigation stage and, in accordance with the principle of presumption of innocence, the responsibility of the suspects will be established only with an irrevocable judgment of conviction.
