The planned activities and expected results of the EU-funded twinning project: “Further strengthening of capacities of the phytosanitary sector in the fields of plant protection products, plant health and seed and seedlings, including phytosanitary laboratories and phytosanitary inspections,” were presented at the project’s kick-off conference held on February 24 at the EU Delegation to BiH in Sarajevo.
The goal of the project is further development of a sustainable phytosanitary sector in BiH and its gradual alignment with the EU acquis. In that sense, the project will ultimately assist BiH to increase the competitiveness of its plant products on the EU and international markets, as well as enhance conditions and possibilities for export of these products.
In his welcoming remarks, Dr Renzo Daviddi, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to BiH, said he was happy to officially launch this 1.5 million EUR project and underlined the positive developments in this sector already recognised in the last EU Progress Report for BiH and in the findings of the 2014 European Commission Food & Veterinary Office mission on the potato sector.
Dr. Daviddi congratulated the competent authorities and institutions in BiH for their commitment and efforts in achieving these accomplishments. He also stressed the necessity of further alignments with the EU requirements and standards in the field of phytosanitary services, as well as the importance of full functionality of the consolidated registries, efficient laboratories and inspection control services country-wide: “It is a constant ‘must’ for us in the EU to persistently work on improving our regularity and policy framework as well as implementing mechanisms. It is a must so that our consumers – more than 500 million EU citizens – can remain safe and healthy and our EU market stable and competitive.”
This project is based on the twinning/partnership between the EU member state institutions involved and their ‘twins’ in the beneficiary country. The Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies is the lead institution from an EU Member State that will implement the project in partnership with the State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service of Poland, Polish Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development, Informest from Italy, Research Institute of Horticulture from Poland as well as with the beneficiary institutions led by the Administration of BiH for Plant Health Protection.
H.E. Ruggero Corrias, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to BiH stated: “Harmonization of phytosanitary standards with European ones is crucial for BiH agriculture and farmers, who are the backbone of the country’s economy. By leading this EU-funded project, Italy once again showed support to BiH, knowing that only the European perspective can be the future of this country and its people.”
“On the road towards the European Union that Bosnia and Herzegovina will join sooner or later, the phytosanitary sector is very important, and I believe that this triangle of cooperation between BiH, Italy and Poland is very useful for this country,” said Andrzej Krawczyk, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to BiH.
