The Miagliano Wool Collection and Enhancement Center is the only authorized collection center in Northern Italy.It is also the centre for wool collection for breeders who are not in the position of being able to market their own products.
A NATIONAL REFERENCE POINT
Our Wool Collection and Enhancement Center is a focal point for Italian sheep farmers and wool enthusiasts from all over Europe.
Breeders from all over Italy supply their wool to regional storage centres. It is then sent on to our warehouses in Maigliano (Biella). These warehouses are the only ones in Piedmont to be authorized by the Department of Protection of Health and Health to receive the raw wool, which is then sorted by our experts.
The wool, subsequently tested by an internationally recognized quality certification body, can then be sold raw; through an international auction; or as a finished product made directly by the breeder, or through his Biella The Wool Company Consortium account.
After deducting management fees, all proceeds are returned to the farmer, thus providing both an income and a way to avoid the costs of fleece disposal or, worse, the temptation to abandon them in the fields.
It is therefore clear that in a few years our Wool Collection and Certification Centre has become a point of reference and excellence for Italian sheep farmers. In 2011 the BTWC Consortium organized the Wool Handling in Europe Congress, at which over 70 people participated, including breeders and sector experts. This congress was instrumental in the modification of the law 1069/2009 concerning the transport of sheared wool, easing the obligations of breeders.
A MATTER OF EXCELLENCE
Wool has always been a raw material of excellence on which many European local economies, and Biella in particular, have been able to develop over the centuries.
However, in today’s world the traditional wool manufacturing system has been devalued and the breeders receive little compensation for their wool.
Continuous increases in labour and fuel costs force the small breeder to leave the wool in the fields creating environmental problems.
Unfortunately, whilst other countries have made great strides in innovating their wool industries, the systems of collection and trade in Italy remains that of Roman times. In fact, wool is defined by the bureaucracy as an animal by-product and as such, a waste material.
It is therefore clear that Italy needs an independent collection, promotion and marketing system, managed by the breeders themselves, and Biella has all the competence and know-how to establish methods, quality control and systems.
A WINNING PROJECT
The activities of our Collection Center today go far beyond the pure management of the raw material
The Wool Collection and Enhancement Center has been developed thanks to the collaboration of other institutions throughout Italy, such as the Gran Sasso National Park (Pecunia Project), Puglia (Partnersheep Project), Sicily (Lana Networks Project) and Umbria (T.U.N. Project).
Today it has been decided that it is now necessary to make progress at the national level, creating an Italian Wool Marketing Board, with associated quality control unique to Biella.