Starting in 2027, San Marino hunters will no longer have to pay the regional tax, and procedures for hunting in Italian territory will become simpler. This is one of the main changes introduced by the new Memorandum of Understanding between the Republic of San Marino and the Marche Region on wildlife management and hunting activities.
The text of the agreement was approved by the Congress of State at its session on 29 September, on a proposal by Secretary of State Matteo Ciacci. The protocol must now be reviewed by the relevant bodies of the Marche Region before being submitted for ratification by the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale).
The agreement is the result of a process launched in August in Ancona with Giacomo Bugaro, the Marche regional councillor for wildlife and hunting policy, and aims to replace the previous 2005 agreement signed with the Province of Pesaro and Urbino. Cooperation thus shifts from the provincial to the regional level.
“The new protocol supersedes the 2005 agreement with the Province of Pesaro and Urbino and raises cooperation from the provincial to the regional level: a single counterpart, a stronger framework, simpler procedures,” reads the statement issued by the Secretariat of State.
The most immediate change concerns San Marino’s hunters directly. Under the agreement, from 2027 the regional concession tax linked to the issuing of the hunting licence, as established by Marche Regional Law no. 7/1995, will allow hunting activity in Italian territory at no extra cost and with reduced red tape.
The protocol, however, goes beyond hunting activities alone. The agreement also introduces broader cooperation between San Marino and Marche on wildlife management and monitoring, including technical and scientific cooperation, training for operators, and stable coordination between the respective administrations.
“Wildlife knows no borders: managing it together is the only serious way to do so,” the statement notes, framing the agreement within the principle of reciprocity and cooperation between neighbouring territories.
“A concrete result for our hunters, who from today have a clear rule and one less cost to bear, and a step forward in relations with the Marche Region. I thank Councillor Bugaro for his availability and the San Marino Hunting Federation for its constant cooperation throughout the process,” said Secretary of State Matteo Ciacci.
The process is not yet complete. Following approval by the Congress of State, the protocol must still receive the necessary authorisations from the Marche Region and subsequent ratification by the Grand and General Council before it can be fully implemented.
