The declaration from the organisation's president Augusto Bocchini came as a row erupted in the Italian press earlier this week over inflationary food prices in 2002. Without wishing to be drawn into the argument, Bocchini said that agriculture was not to blame and that fruit and vegetable production in particular had suffered in 2002. 'Because of inclement weather, supplies at some points in 2002 all but collapsed – especially in the fruit and vegetable sector,' said Bocchini. 'This led to temporary price hikes which dissipated once production conditions returned to normal.' But Bocchini pointed to a more worrying economic trend, which shows that Italy is losing ground to other member states such as France.

'We should put aside unconstructive discussion of the inflation polemic and as a matter of urgency concentrate on our own efficiency and this worrying loss of competitiveness,' he said.

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