Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting with food business operators, where he emphasized that food safety is one of the most difficult and complex challenges in the process of European Union accession.
The Prime Minister stated that 900 food-related businesses operating in the country risk closure or exclusion from the market from the very first day of EU membership if they do not meet EU standards.
“As you know, the European Union, through the Commission, has sent a team of experts who have inspected production sites, collection points, and activities related to animal products and their by-products, and have left a series of requirements.
They have set a number of tasks for which we, through the inspectorate, will need to interact with 900 entities across Albania, all of which clearly face this risk—not just one or two, but all of them in their current conditions. Of course, among them there are some that can meet the standards with minor improvements, while the majority will need to do more. The risk is closure and/or exclusion from the market of food establishments from the very day of accession.
Therefore, this requires first awareness, and secondly information, so that each operator clearly understands: I have this facility, I carry out this activity—what do I need to do so that my investment is not lost, and how will you, the Albanian government and state structures, help me succeed in this process?” Rama said, among other things.
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