The government has released for public consultation a 7-year strategy that aims to align the country’s food safety and consumer protection laws with those of the EU by 2030.
The strategy determines the adoption of 140 laws and bylaws related to the issue, the increase of human resources to strengthen institutional capacities, the creation of an effective monitoring system and registration of farm animals.
AKU, the country’s most important institution for food safety, requires the generation of inspection statistics, digitization and infrastructure development in regional directorates, for sampling, guaranteeing and sending them to the respective laboratories. Experts also require attention to some other factors in the design of the strategy.
“We must have a clear objective of the structures where we will go in 2030. We have chosen the multi-agency model, but the question we have to raise food safety specialists is ‘is this the best model or is it better the model with the umbrella of a central authority where all food safety inspectorates operate? We often find overlaps of competences in inspectorates, which with the effects of implementing food safety undermine the implementation of the law says the food safety expert, Kapllan Sulaj.
“Disease tracking systems should be a clear target. There is talk about animal registration. We already have an animal registration system mainly for cattle and livestock. Shall we go to other species to identify them? Are we going to join the electronic system in which Europe is also a part”, he adds.
The government should do a voluminous job in standardization, accreditation, quality infrastructure and strict market surveillance. As for funding, budget funds will be used for short-term objectives, while foreign donations will be required for longer-term ones.
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