The regulatory framework concerning promotional activities essentially consists of Law n. 580 dated December 29, 2003, second paragraph, entrusting the Chambers of Commerce with the task of supporting and promoting the general interests of businesses.

According to a general classification of the promotional activities carried out by the Chambers of Commerce, it is possible to make a distinction between promotional activities in the strict sense, and those in the broadest sense of the word.

Promotional activities in the strict sense represent, in a way, the activities carried out in exchange for the annual fees entrepreneurs pay to the Chambers of Commerce. They can be classified either with reference to the various business areas (farming, industry, handicraft, tourism, trade, transport, and so on), or according to the enterprise departments concerned (purchase, production, internationalisation department, etc.). Moreover, it is possible to make a distinction based on the service nature, with the different categories being the following:

Productivity Promotion Actions, Subsidies to Enterprises
Consortium and Collective Guarantee Cooperative Promotion Actions
Association Promotion Actions
Marketing Promotion Actions
Technology Transfer Promotion Actions
Quality Certification Services

Promotional activities in the broadest sense include actions for the promotion of production systems, local markets and the economy in general. Such services enhance local market efficiency, favour local product trading, attract external capital and resources and impinge on enterprise finance, though indirectly. The Chamber of Commerce environmental protection-related tasks, their infrastructural support, mark and product enhancement activities, commodity exchange and trading floor modernisation actions, and the enhancement of commodity chemical laboratories are all promotional activities in the broadest sense of the expression. In particular, this text shall focus on:

Chamber Exchanges
Bonded Warehouses
Commodity Chemical Laboratories
Marks of Origin
Agroqualità

Chambers of Commerce may either directly carry out the aforesaid promotional activities or, for highly specialised ones, utilise ad hoc Aziende Speciali or external facilities. Sometimes, they act through companies, consortia and the like, they contribute capital to.