XXIV NATIONAL CONGRESS
OF COMMODITY SCIENCES

The XXIV National Congress of Commodity Sciences, organized by the Department of Commodity Science, Faculty of Economics – University of Turin, will take place from 23 to 25 June 2009. Among the participants, there will be not only University members (professors, researchers and Italian and foreign experts on commodity sciences and other similar disciplines), but also representatives of local and national institutions, economic operators and consumers.
During the XXIV National Congress, with international attendance, the following topics will be dealt with: Environment, Internationalization, Systems, Merchandise and Energy. A work session will be devoted to each topic, and in particular, the abovementioned topics will be analyzed in detail with reference to the following themes.

Environment. This topic is dealt with in reference to the use and transformation of resources and to the environmental implications of products and services. Methods such as the environmental life cycle assessment or eco-design are applied to the various economic sectors, as well as simulation models that are also widely applied: during this session, writings will be presented about recent applications developed by commodity specialists.

Internationalization. Economic operators and consumers are ever more exposed to a market that crosses national borders. The term “internationalization” refers to a field of study that comprises different themes related to the commodity sector, such as product labelling (regulations to which national operators must conform to export their products abroad and indications that national and community consumers must be able to find on the labels of the goods that they are about to purchase), electronic commerce, the instruments predisposed by Customs, also relative to the origin of goods, etc.

Systems. The system network is one of the strong points of Commodity Sciences. The dialogue between chemists and economists, especially business management economists, allowed the development of multidisciplinary works and a disposition to dialogue with various disciplines. Among the most famous systems pertaining to Commodity Sciences, which have benefited from this overall view, are the Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2000), the Environmental Management Systems (EMAS and ISO 14001:2004), the Health and Safety Systems (OHSAS 18001:2007) and Food Safety Systems (HACCP).

Merchandise. Merchandise specialization, the major theme of the scientific discipline “Commodity Sciences”, renews its importance over time. New analytical techniques to oppose processes that distort the transparency of commercial transactions and new operative proposals represent the field of study that commodity specialists continue to investigate with satisfaction, for the support of commercial and production activities and in the interest of consumers.

Energy. Energy as merchandise constitutes a traditional topic for commodity specialists. The topic was first concerned with fossil fuels, then evolved through the study of renewable sources, and then through the analysis of opportunities offered by the various sources. The topic of Energy arises today in all its importance. The main pieces of research showing a renewed interest in the exploitation of the atom will be summarized in this session.

These current topics, apparently characteristic of the commodity studies of the third millennium, actually find their roots (recover and complete) in the preface to the Dictionary of Commodity written by Vittorio Villavecchia (1859-1937) in 1896, milestone of commodity literature.
In that occasion in fact he declared that the “essentially practical book” and accessible for various people (industrialists, merchants and Government technical officials) “briefly and clearly contained everything concerning the various and numerous goods, which are today subject to traffic and trade”. The book contains “everything concerning external appearance, physical and chemical properties, composition, origin, extraction or production method, different qualities, adulteration, alterations, characteristic essays, packing, uses of raw materials and manufactured products deriving from these materials”.
Therefore, the Congress has the objective to integrate and compare the contributions of Commodity Sciences on the different themes, also with those of other scientific fields and with the theories of those who, in various fields, operate at a national and international level.

 

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS