We are talking about the safety of food, both human and animal, about phyto and veterinarian inspections, which must be harmonized and accredited with EU so that we could export healthy food, Miščević said at the beginning of the screening which is being held in the next five days.
BRUSSELS, February 3rd 2014. (FoNet)– EU has an absolute interest to help Serbia (as a future candidate for EU membership) establish everything needed in order to control the safety and trading of food, head of Serbia’s negotiating team in the accession negotiations, Tanja Miščević, declared today in Brussels.
In Brussels, where the screening about the safety of food is being held, the reporters were said that this is the area in which European integrations will have their first impacts on our lives.
We are talking about the safety of food, both human and animal, about phyto and veterinarian inspections, which must be harmonized and accredited with EU so that we could export healthy food, Miščević said at the beginning of the screening which is being held in the next five days.
Standards
According to her, this is about 500 pages of standard in the Chapter 12, but Serbia is no longer at the beginning, because during The Stabilization and Association Agreement process, this area had to be synchronized.
We can now discuss about the standards of milk and meat transportation through EU members, the area in which lies a great potential, said Miščević.
A reference laboratory requires a lot of investment. There will be more than one refence laboratory: but we are not alone in the safety of food for EU has absolute interest in helping us.
State Secretary of the Ministry of agriculture, Danilo Golubović, pointed out that the Chapter 12 is the most extensive chapter in agriculture and that it deals with the safety of food and consumer health and it is of great importance for Serbian economy.
Export
The better we do our job, the more possibility our businessmen will have to place their products on EU market, Golubović said.
According to him, the first day of screening about veterinary medicine day went all right, because a great deal was done.
Many things need to be fixed not just within the Ministry but within the legilsation too, he noticed.
Legislation
State is responsable, Golubović indicated; all of the important legislations are supposed to pass, e.g. the completed Food safety legislation.
Europe is not forcing us to pass all of the legislations before joining the EU, but delaying it untill the moment of joining is dangerous because then, there will be no administrative capacities to pass them.
“Our law-making has to adapt and make changes in the interpretation of the law so that we could pass a legislation and conclude that the legislation passed, but that its implementation is delayed untill the moment Serbia joins EU”, he said.
Golubović pointed out that veterinary medicine and Plant Protection Department are of crucial importance and said that in this field “homework will be done properly”.
