The main objective of the EU funded project “Support to Implementation and Enforcement of BiH Food Legislation”, which was officially presented at the kick-off Conference held on 29 October 2009 in Sarajevo, is to ensure the implementation of the food safety legislation in BiH through strengthening the human resources in order to achieve a high level of food safety and increase the competitiveness of BiH products both on local and on the EU market. European Union provided 985.292 € through IPA 2007 funds and the project will last 24 months.
Food safety is amongst the key policy priorities within the EU, primarily because of its impact on health and consumers wellbeing, but also because of the role that food safety standards play in international trade. Therefore Bosnia and Herzegovina must adopt the EU food safety standards on its path towards the European Union”– stated Maria Farrar – Hockley, Head of Operations Section for Justice and Home Affairs, Administrative Reform and Civil Society within the European Commission Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in her opening address.
European Commission, in its 2009 Progress Report for Bosnia and Herzegovina, states that the legislation on food control is not yet fully adopted and that enforcement capacity remains weak and not in line with EU standards. Also, no progress was reported as regards the upgrading of agri-food establishments. Therefore it is necessary to make the necessary steps to improve the implementation and coordination of all actors in the food safety chain. For example, you need to accelerate the process of laboratories accreditation in line with the EU requirements. A food safety policy “from farm to table” must be adopted, if more radical progress in this area is to be achieved. If BiH wishes to make more progress in the area of food safety, it must provide guarantees to the European Union that the products coming from BiH are meeting the same food safety standards as the food originating from the EU countries.
BiH needs to define a set of priorities in order to achieve competitiveness and better protection of food consumers. It must have effective and trained official staff checking the harmonisation of the standards. Farmers must be fully aware of requirements that they must comply with and the consumers must be well informed.” stated Maria Farrar-Hockley. She emphasised that, “instead of an “ad hoc” approach, BiH needs to have a coherent and transparent national food control system, with clear designation of tasks between the state institutions and efficient coordination with lower administrative levels, including inspections. That is why this project will assist BiH to face the challenges „- stated Maria Farrar – Hockley in her address.
Sejad Mačkić, Director of the BiH Food Safety Agency, presented the letters of appreciation to the representatives of the European Commission for a continued assistance and support and he thanked for the understanding and a wish to support such projects. He presented the work of the BiH Food Safety Agency and outlined the most important components of the Project:
“To establish the capacities of the BiH Food Safety Agency in order to improve the implementation and enforcement of food legislation, especially legislation related to the risk assessment and risk management, and to improve the communication with all stakeholders in the food safety chain. To enhance the food safety, hygiene and quality control through strengthening the inspection services capacities. To strengthen laboratory capacities in order for the new accredited laboratories to be able to perform specific analysis according to the internationally recognised methods and procedures. To set up the register of food and feed business operators. To improve market position of the food producers and food industry by implementing the food safety and self-control standards programmes„ – stated Mačkić.
The EU experts in food safety area also spoke at the Conference. Claudio Bompart, Project Manager, emphasised that the “process of harmonisation of BiH with the EU standards represents a possibility for BiH to place its products on a market of 500.000.000 consumers. Therefore it is important to strengthen the role of the BiH Food Safety Agency – stated Bompart and added that cooperation between all relevant institutions was necessary. He emphasised that it was frustrating to see “very few or no BiH products at all on the Balkan countries’ markets while the products from other continents are visibly present on BiH market. That is why we need to change the legislative framework as soon as possible and enforce the legislation„ concluded Bompart.
Krystian Poplawski, Team Leader and EU Expert for Food Safety, presented several examples of the necessity to meet the necessary standardisation conditions. ”If you look at the products, you will notice that they all have different labels„ stated Poplawski making allegations that one of the necessary requirements was to have a single labelling system.
Vesna Grković, EC Delegation to BiH representative also addressed the participants shortly stating that ”the success of the project will depend on the participants. There are great potentials and BiH has the necessary human resources who are well acquainted with the EU standards„- concluded Grković.
