The Italian plant nursery industry has long been recognized as a global excellence, supported by a well-established tradition and high-quality standards. In 2024, it reached an all-time high of over 3 billion euros, driven primarily by exports.

However, expanding into international markets is not easy. The increasing complexity of phytosanitary regulations, the need to manage increasingly intricate documentation, as well as the requirement for meticulous monitoring and advanced risk management skills to address current phytosanitary emergencies, pose significant challenges to industry operators.

In order to meet these needs, the National Association of Nurserymen Exporters (ANVE), in collaboration with ITA – Italian Trade Agency, launched Phytoweb: the first web portal entirely dedicated to the plant nursery sector.

Phytoweb is not just an informational platform but a true digital hub designed to simplify bureaucratic complexities and reduce the time required for exporting plants and flowers. Its aim is to support Italian plant nursery companies, whether they are already active in international markets or aspiring to expand, by offering intuitive tools and essential information for successfully navigating complex foreign regulations.

Thanks to Phytoweb’s features, these companies can:

• Access up-to-date phytosanitary regulations in real time, collected into a single database, thus avoiding time wasted searching through multiple sources.
• Verify movement regulations for exporting specific plant species to certain destinations, minimizing the risk of blockages at borders.
• Conduct a personalized risk analysis of phytopathological threats associated with harmful organisms, ensuring high phytosanitary quality standards for their plants.
• Digitally generate the ordinary Plant Passport and Passports for Protected Zones, essential documents for the traceability and safety of exported products.

Since its launch in 2023, the portal has been integrated with the regulations of strategic countries such as the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Albania, with the goal of gradually expanding the database and including other key areas.

Phytoweb is designed to be accessible to all industry companies. Registration is free, and the user-friendly interface makes it easy to navigate through its features, making it suitable even for less tech-savvy users. Moreover, the digitization of processes allows nurserymen to save valuable time, simplify information storage and sharing, and improve operational efficiency.

Luigi Pagliani, President of ANVE, states: “Italian production is recognized worldwide as an excellence, showing resilience even in difficult times thanks to high-level entrepreneurship. It is a true heritage that we must promote and grow. In this context, with Phytoweb, we aim to provide the plant nursery sector with a strategic ally, an innovative tool to simplify processes related to entering foreign markets. Our ambition is to continue improving the platform by integrating new features to offer increasingly comprehensive and versatile support to Italian companies”.

In an increasingly competitive global market, Phytoweb serves as a practical support tool for the internationalization of the sector. The collaboration between ANVE and ITA – Italian Trade Agency demonstrates their joint commitment to supporting Italian businesses, contributing to the strengthening of Italy’s presence in the global plant nursery landscape.