France aims for the Italian bio but the Italian government sets "conditions". This is what has just happened with the company Cotecna Certification Italia, 100% controlled by the Swiss Cotecna Inspection, a group active in the field of TIC (i.e., testing, inspection and certification) which belongs to the French entrepreneur Frank Piedelièvre, who has obtained the green light "conditioned" by the Council of ministers to the acquisition of Suolo e Salute, control body and certification of organic production. 

The green light of the government has been activated through the 'golden power' instrument: it is conditional on maintaining the continuity of the medium-term business plans and locations and services of Suolo e Salute in Italy. The golden power also provides for the appointment, in a board of directors of five members, two of whom are indicated by the seller, of a third independent administrator for at least three years. Among the requirements to which the operation is bound there is also an obligation to inform the ministry of Agriculture regarding the tariff of certification operations and the management of farm data. 

Founded in 1969, Suolo e Salute is one of the main control and certification bodies for organic production in Europe: it deals with certification of organic production and, in some cases, biodynamic, processors and distributors comply with European and national bio regulations. It is the first control and certification body for organic in Italy: certifies 23,000 operators (farms, livestock and processing), over 25% of the national total and over 670,000 hectares of agricultural area, corresponding to 30% of the Italian agricultural area under organic farming. In some Italian regions, such as the Marche and Calabria, the company certifies well over 50% of all organic farms on the territory. It is one of the most important Control Bodies for number of certified organic mills and wineries: also in the field of animal husbandry, Suolo e Salute has a leading role, certifying the largest number of organic farms in Italy: was one of the founding members of FederBio (Italian Federation for Organic Agriculture and Biodynamics), member of EOCC (European Organic Certifiers Council) and is a supporter of IFOAM EU, also, he is a founding member of ASS.O.CERT.BIO, the National Association of Organic Certification Bodies. 

The French company Cotecna, as we said, belongs to the transalpine manager Frank Piedeliévre: with a long career in the Tic (Testing, inspection, certification) sector he became president of the Cotecna cda in 2018. Founded in Switzerland in 1974, it was born as a family business and has grown to become an international world-class reality with over 7,000 employees in more than 100 offices in around 50 countries.