"Verifood" is a joint research project between the Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and the Repression of Fraud in Agri-Food Products. The project also involves cooperation between qualified public and private actors to create a network that optimizes synergies in monitoring and combating online fraud.
Italy is the world leader in the sector, with 890 geographical indications for a wealth of over 20 billion euros per year and 900 thousand workers involved. In recent years, fraud on the web has grown sharply, especially through usurpation, evocation, and imitation. The prototype is already at an advanced stage; over the next two years, it will be calibrated and perfected. It is based on the use of Artificial Intelligence supported by criminology, cognitive, and legal sciences to create an innovative information system, the Verifood platform, which identifies and gather evidence on online fraud against geographical indications. It has already removed over 4,000 irregular advertisements of products with geographical indications from e-commerce sites and marketplaces.