August 29, 2022

This article constitutes a modified version of a published post.

Breeders Trust has recently won a penal lawsuit against the CEO of the Italian trading company Mediterranea Sementi s.r.l. based in Teramo. This company is one of the top 3 Italian grass seed companies and operates worldwide. The Italian court states in its ruling that fraud had been committed by marketing grass seed that is not true to variety. Mediterranea Sementi has been ordered to pay a fine of 1.000 euros, legal costs and compensation for damages related to this market distortion. In addition, the court ordered the publication of this ruling in a regional newspaper.

It all started in the autumn of 2015 when Breeders Trust bought grass seed of the Ceronte variety in a shop in central Italy. Independent investigations revealed that the grass seed was not true to variety and could not be the Ceronte seed stated on the certificate. Breeders Trust shared this information with the Italian fraud investigation agency ICQRF and with CREA, the Italian certification authority. The Italian authorities subsequently launched their own investigation and came to the same conclusion, that the batch in question could not be true to variety. The results of this investigation led to the initiation of criminal proceedings before the court in Teramo in 2016.

After complex and deep technical and legal discussions, the judge finally ruled in favor of Breeders Trust, stating that the CEO of Mediterranea Sementi had acted illegally by marketing these grass seeds.

This verdict was appealed by Mediterranea Sementi.

Website: http://www.breederstrust.eu/?page=Home&lang=EN

Published: August 30, 2022