A project funded by the European Union to support plant health administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on improving the efficiency and productivity of agricultural projects, was launched at the conference held in the premises of the EU Delegation in Sarajevo on Monday. The project will run for two years and will receive 790,450 Euro from IPA funds.

The overall objective of the project is to establish an integrated BiH phytosanitary control system and implement the BiH plant health protection policy, harmonised with EU standards. Harmonising the BiH Plant Health Administration with EU legislation is very important for food production in BiH as it would make possible for BiH agricultural products to be exported to the world market including the EU market.

Johann Hesse, Head of the Operations Section for Economic Development,  Natural Resources and Infrastructure at the EU Delegation to BiH noted that the BiH Plant Health Protection Administration (PHPA) was established in 2009, and that a certain amount of progress in this sector has already been made, but he added that the latest annual Progress report of the European Commission for BiH found that state legislation currently makes it difficult for BiH companies to sell their products in the broader market.

“Inspection supervision is not performed in a uniform way.“ he said, adding that staff training is inadequate and inspection capacities need to be strengthened.

Radenko Radović, Director of PHPA, which is part of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, expressed appreciation for the assistance that is being provided by the European Union.

“We will make efforts to harmonise legislation,” he said, adding that “the plant protection system should be established according to European standards.“ He said the PHPA would make optimal use of help received from EU experts.

Radović said that the PHPA would focus on the implementation of the already adopted legislation, in addition to further alignment with the EU standards. Radovic underlined that the internal product control, in addition to border control, is priority as the quality of products on the BiH market directly impacts public and environmental health. The PHPA activities for the next period include establishment of the phytosanitary register, preparation of control plans for various pests, regulation of the trade of seeds and seedling materials and regulation of registering the use of plant protection products (pesticides).  The priority is also training of the various parts of the phytosanitary control in BiH, including the laboratories, ministries, inspectorates and the PHPA.  

Several participants at the project launch stressed that harmonising plant health protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina with EU standards is a matter of urgency, not least because Croatia, which is a major market for BiH agricultural products, may secure EU membership in the near future.

The principal partners in this project are the FBiH Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, the RS Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Brcko District Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, and the three Inspectorates established at the Entity and District level, involved in implementation of phytosanitary control.

Five major activities planned under the project will deal with the control system for plant health, plant protection products, seeds and seedling materials certification.