The European Commission has revealed the progress of potential European Union countries in areas including food safety. As part of the Enlargement Package, the EU Commission has assessed how prepared Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Turkey are as they work towards EU accession. This article covers the first five countries, a later piece will deal with the other five nations.
Albania has some level of preparation in the area of food safety, veterinary, and phytosanitary policy, but no progress was made over the reporting period. The National Food Authority (AKU) is refreshing the AKU-net system, a food business operator database, on inspection statistics, data management, and transparency, but work is still needed to reduce the administrative burden for planning and reporting on risk-based official controls. Albania continued aligning on food additives and identifying maximum levels for certain contaminants in food.
No progress was made on developing a roadmap to improve milk quality. The EU Commission’s recommendations from last year were not implemented and remain valid. These include aligning national legislation with the EU on animal and plant health, official controls, animal welfare, and the General Food Law regulation.
Bosnia Herz and Kosovo Bosnia and Herzegovina has some level of preparation in food safety, veterinary, and phytosanitary policy, but there has been no progress in the past year.