Legislative Decree No. 143 entrusting to the Regions the administrative functions in matter of agriculture and fisheries and concerning the reorganisation of the Government administration.

The Decree concerns the transfer to the Regions of the duties previously pertaining to the central administration. However, the Ministry for Agricultural Policies shall coordinate the activities of the Regions and make provision at the national level in the sectors established in article 2 (among others, food quality protection, research, food education, imports and exports, marketing regulations, registration of plant varieties, keeping of herd books, interventions in the sector of seeds and propagating material, management of fishery resources, biotechnology). According to article 2, paragraph 3, the Ministry shall exercise the powers pertaining to the recognition of national associations, inter-professional agreements of national relevance, frauds in the preparation and trade of foodstuffs, collection and dissemination of information, statistical surveys. Article 4 makes provisions for the allocation of financial resources to the Regions.