Standards

On 6 February 2014, the UNIFIED CONFERENCE approved the Understanding, pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 6, of Law No. 131 of 5 June 2003 between the Government, the Regions and the Local Authorities for the Unified Regulation of Trade Fair Matters. (Rep. Atti no. 9/CU).

This agreement, the result of several months of work, promoted by the Mise – Department for Enterprise and Internationalisation General Directorate for Internationalisation Policies and Trade Promotion, Conference of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces and shared by the reference Associations of the Trade Fair Industry and Unioncamere, sanctions the certification, according to the ISO 25639:2008 standard, as a central element for the qualification of the Italian trade fair system. The standard, transposed by the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, redefines the elements that regulate the recognition of trade fair events and the venues that host them and their support, in relation to the application of the ISO 25639:2008 standard.

Certification according to ISO 25639:2008, unlike in many foreign countries where it is a regulatory obligation (e.g. France) or customary (e.g. Germany), is currently still voluntary.

Contributions

ISO 25639:2008-certified events may have exclusive or favourable conditions for access to public subsidies for supporting or participating in certified trade fairs.

In addition, in special promotion projects supported by ICE to support the internationalisation of trade fair events, certification is a judging requirement.

By way of example only, but not exhaustively, here are some of the notices:

Prizes

By way of example, with reference to the bonuses that the Agreement, pursuant to Article 8, paragraph 6, of Law no. 131 of 5 June 2003 between the Government, the regions and the local authorities for the unitary regulation of trade fairs, provides for certified events (regardless of the qualification possessed prior to certification) the following extract from the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic no. 52 of 04/03/2014 is given

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2.Criteria for recognising the international status of exhibitions

    1. a) a) In the case of self-collection of data, or of certification performed by a body not recognised by ACCREDIA or by an equivalent European body, relating to exhibitors and visitors, the ‘international’ status is recognised for the exhibition event when at least 15% of the total number of direct and indirect exhibitors from abroad or at least 8% of the total number of visits or general or professional visitors from abroad are recorded.

 

  1. b) In the case of certification of the exhibitor and visitor data by certification bodies recognised by Accredia for the application of the ISO 25369-2008 standard, the exhibition is recognised as ‘international’ when at least 10% of the total number of direct and indirect exhibitors from abroad or at least 5% of the total number of general or professional visitors or visitors from abroad participate.

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  1. Reward mechanisms of accredited data certificationInternational trade fairs that will be recognised by means of accredited data certification can be consulted at any time on the following sites: www.calendariofiereinternazionali.it; www.sviluppoeconomicoit; www.aefi .it and will also benefit from a series of rewards consisting of:1) more streamlined regional administrative procedures regarding the awarding of international status and inclusion in the Regional Exhibition Calendars, as defined in point 2 letter b) ;

    2) recognition of priorities within the framework of promotional activities in favour of the internationalisation of the trade fair system managed by the Ministry for Economic Development and the Regions;

    3) recognition of higher scores in favour of certified events in accessing financial contributions from the Regions and the Chambers of Commerce;

    4) initiatives to support innovative start-ups or the reconversion of existing events along innovative development lines, within the framework of promotional activities in favour of the internationalisation of the trade fair system managed by the Ministry for Economic Development and the Regions;

    5) simplified procedure for granting the patronage of the Ministry for Economic Development and of the Conference of the Regions and Autonomous Provinces to the certified event;

    6) highlighting of certified events in the Italian Trade Fair Calendar and in the annual statistics edited by the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, in communications to UFI (Union of International Fairs) and in the annual reports on the sector;

    7) from 2015 provision for a dedicated section of the calendar of international trade fairs;

    8) mutual recognition of the status of « certified » international trade fair throughout the national territory.

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