REMINDER PRESS ACCREDITATION NOTE
Shipment of a mobile scanner as part of the “Food for Gaza” initiative
Port of Gioia Tauro – 6 June 2024, 12:00 p.m.
Operations for the shipment to Cyprus of a state-of-the-art mobile scanner will be conducted at the port of Gioia Tauro on Thursday 6 June 2024 at 12:00 p.m. as part of the Italian Government’s humanitarian initiative “Food for Gaza”.
The scanner is a mobile X-ray inspection system suitable for screening all types of goods and equipped with very high functional capabilities. Property of the Gioia Tauro Port Authority, the scanner will be handed over to the Cypriot Customs Authorities thanks to the coordination with the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency and the Italian Protection Department (Protezione Civile), which are actively contributing to the establishment of the Humanitarian Hub for Gaza in Cyprus.
This entirely Italian effort will contribute to the implementation of the “maritime corridor” connecting Cyprus to Gaza, thus enabling the delivery of humanitarian aid, which will be previously inspected in Larnaka. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, inspection and scanning equipment of the highest standard is indispensable in Cyprus, and the system provided by Italy meets all the necessary requirements.
The operation is part of the activities carried out under the “Food for Gaza” initiative promoted by the Italian Government and launched by Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani on 11 March to provide aid to the civilian population of Gaza by supplying emergency food and medical supplies, animal feed to support subsistence farming and livestock breeding, control systems such as the aforementioned scanner, as well as transport systems such as the trucks donated to the World Food Program for distributing food inside the Strip.
In addition to the World Food Program, the FAO, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Italian Red Cross, and the Italian Protection Department are also involved in the Food for Gaza initiative, as are the Italian Customs Agency and numerous other Italian institutions actively engaged in mitigating the ongoing emergency in the Strip.
The contribution provided by the Italian Customs Agency to the implementation of this complex operation – to be completed on Thursday 6 June – is central, also given that the Agency will shortly be sending three teams of trainers to assist the Cypriot Authorities in the setting up and operation of the delicate equipment.
Journalists, photographers and cameramen interested in attending the event may apply for accreditation by sending a request by Wednesday 5 June at 6:00 p.m. to accreditamentostampa@esteri.it (tel. 06 3691 3432 – 8573 – 3078 or 8210), attaching the following:
For representatives of Italian press organisations:
- copy of an identity document;
- letter of assignment from the newspaper of affiliation or – in the absence of the latter – copy of professional identity card.
For representatives of foreign press organisations, not accredited at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
- copy of an identity document;
- letter from the newspaper of affiliation;
- Verbal note of the Embassy in Rome of the country of the press organisation represented.
For representatives of foreign press already accredited at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the request must be sent with a copy of an identity document attached.
Accredited journalists, photographers and cameramen may report to the Gioia Tauro port gate at 11:45 a.m. on 6 June 2024.
Submitting the above-mentioned personal data means authorising the use thereof in accordance with Italian Legislative Decree no. 196 of 30 June 2003 and the GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679) by the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the data controller, for strictly professional purposes and/or purposes related to the performance of the event in question.