«The downgrading of the Ligurian Territorial Directorate of Customs, which includes the offices of Genoa, Savona and La Spezia, It is a decision without any sense and it has even less so if you think that it is based on the application of an algorithm." This was denounced by the general director of the association of Spediporto, Giampaolo Botta, referring to the decision taken by the central bodies of the Customs and Police Agency Monopolies that have demoted the Ligurian Territorial Directorate from the first to the third band on a scale of seven, while the offices of Savona and La Spezia have respectively passed from the second to the third tier and from the first to the second.

Announcing that the association has "written to the Ligurian parliamentarians, urging their intervention", Botta expressed satisfaction with "the fact that some have already presented, or will present in the next few hours, questions to the competent minister. At risk - clarified the representative of Spediporto - there is, in fact, the efficiency of controls customs and could have an impact on the speed of port operations and, consequently, on competitiveness of Ligurian ports. It should be remembered, that contribute significantly to national revenues with four billion and 600 million euros in duties and VAT".

"In a region where very important facts have been investments for the development of port and those pertaining to them, where a Logistics Zone is being created Simplified that will lead to a massive development of services - continued Botta - it is absurd that the body territorial control and supervision, which has always been placed in the first even be relegated to third. Not to mention, and this makes the indignation grow even more, which at the Ligurian Direction refers to a regional gateway port system (i.e. where customs operations of import, transit and and export) which handles three million 534 thousand TEUs per year, equal to almost 51% of the entire Italian container traffic".

Explaining that the downgrade is consequent the application of the "Hay methodology", a system that evaluates the organization and job positions on the basis of three factors, know-how, problem solving and responsibility, and is It was therefore an algorithm that decided the fate of these structures so essential for the smooth functioning of the economy Botta stressed that this is "a criterion of inconceivable evaluation and outside of reality, as can be seen from the documents available on the website of the FLP union of tax agencies. In addition to that of the Territorial Directorate, in fact, there are downgrades of the offices of Savona and La Spezia. The La Spezia port handles more than a million TEUs clearly detaching other ports, such as Livorno, Naples, Trieste, Venice; yet these remain in the first tier while La Spezia, after 20 years, he drops to second. Savona (eighth national port for Teu movimentati) ended up in the third tier and this despite the fact that a new interprovincial dimension, assumed with the absorption of of the Customs Office of Imperia; opposite fate to Pescara, which incorporated the Office of L'Aquila and was awarded the first sash. A level that, with all due respect, clashes with the second band assigned, instead, to the Genoa Office".

Recalling that the Ligurian regional council voted unanimously an agenda that commits the President Bucci to intervene at the Central Directorate of Customs, the general manager of Spediporto highlighted that "making critical mass with the intervention of parliamentarians is essential to obtain the lifting of the downgrades and the restoration of the tools and means necessary to ensure the correct functioning of Ligurian customs structures". "The economic scenario in itself not the most - concluded Botta - it is therefore essential that the customs structures are strengthened and staffed qualified to ensure fast and efficient checks, supporting the development of the region".

The port community of La Spezia has also denounced the downgrading of the Customs of the Ligurian ports, ports - highlighted the representation of shipping agents, freight forwarders and La Spezia customs brokers in a note - through which "more than 50% of the total goods in import and export". The downgrading of Customs of the three ports - the note continues - "means not only immediately affect its operations, but also and especially subordinate them, as regards the magnitude of investments, recruitment and development, to other Customs that have functions prevalent in the passenger and e-commerce sectors. As if to say: so many packages to pay attention to, forgetting that the disembarkation from entire ships and supplies for industry, depend on Customs which suddenly become second class".

Referring to the algorithm that would have caused the downgrading, the spokesman of the port community of La Spezia, Bruno Pisano, noted that it seems clear that the new parameters to define the importance of Customs respond to the number of operations (e.g. the plethora of e-commerce packages or customs clearance carried out for the movement of passengers or persons to the detriment of the Customs through which it transits the country's trade and where the customs clearance on disembarkation of entire ships. "Of parameters - Pisano concluded - economic history is full of the country and the damage produced by bureaucracy. As operators with a strong customs specialization We invite the institutions to intervene immediately and not wait for the moment when the investments in technologies, development, employment will be diverted by the system on non-strategic Customs, blocking ports, affecting in a negative way on customs revenue, but especially on the competitiveness of the country system".