Blue Book – Organization, Statistics and Activity – Year 2020
The Director General’s address
I was appointed Director General of the the Italian Agenzia delle Accise, Dogane e Monopoli (The Excise, Customs and Monopolies Agency - ADM) on the 31st January 2020. I knew that I should take up a great challenge for our Country. However, I could not imagine ADM’s crucial role in protecting health, safety and security of citizens and in fighting the serious crimes concerning goods and currency, stemming from the pandemics emergency.
In the last few months, I have been appreciating the ADM officers and managers’ great professional and specific skills, the sense of State and the respect for institutions.
A constant surveillance of land borders, ports and airports, and the cooperation with supranational organizations as OLAF, allowed us both to ensure appropriate supplies to our Country and to prevent dangerous and counterfeited products from entering in our market. Professionally skilled women and men dealing with complex tasks that could also be included in the activities of 15 ministries; these Colleagues are statutorily and duly recognized as Judicial and Tax Police Agents and Officers and include, inter alia, engineers, legal experts, economists, finance analysts, IT technicians, chemists and interpreters. A set of professional skills making ADM a unicum within State institutions.
Also in a difficult year as the one of the pandemics, ADM ensured more than € 60 bn of tax revenue collected from the sectors dealt with by ADM. The three letters of ADM acronym also define the payoff of the Italian Customs Agency.
The letter «A» is for «Accise» («Excise duties»): it concerns electricity, natural gas, mineral oils, tobacco products and alcohol. ADM carries out specific regulatory, monitoring and surveillance activities on all players involved in these sectors.
The letter «D» is for «Dogane» («Customs»); it reflects ADM’s exclusive role, established both in EU and national legislation, as Customs authority collecting customs duties, VAT and all border taxes. This is a complex role, involving the need to identify all more efficient procedures aimed at facilitating legitimate international trade and preventing also criminal violations on goods and currencies, in order to fight criminal organizations. Tonnes of waste, narcotic drugs, counterfeited medicines and toys, and dangerous textiles are seized every year.
And, finally, the letter M is for «Monopoli» («Monopolies»): ADM carries out important regulatory, monitoring and surveillance functions on tobacco products and accessories, on e-liquids, as well as on distribution of mineral oils and gaming equipment. In this last sector, the CoPReGI committee, that I am honoured to Chair and involving all Police Authorities, coordinates the organization of all enforcement activities on the Italian territory.
Our chemical laboratories carry out cross-cutting activities, e.g. control of alcohol and energy products, energy efficiency of waste and tobacco products, characterising flavours, narcotic active principles and more recently, also control activities aimed at protecting Italian brands in our fight against counterfeiting and for the purposes of «Made in Italy» certification, also thanks to the newly-established Qualitalia SpA.
We went through difficult months during which we achieved great results. This is thanks to all those people who, with a high sense of duty, served the State to the full extent of their capabilities. The “Blue Book” represents a small summary of the work done by ADM’s women and men. A summary that plays a particularly important role this year, 20 years after the project that led to the establishment of the Italian ADM as the focal point of the centuries-old history on the Italian territory of Excise Duties, Customs and Monopolies, dating long back before the 1862 harmonization.
Let me express all our affection and gratitude to the thirteen Colleagues who passed away during the pandemics.