Regional Co-operation among authorities in South Eastern Europe

Authorities from South Eastern Europe met on December 12 and 13, 2007 in Skopje, Macedonia, to discuss the legal framework of organic agriculture and assess opportunities to facilitate trade with organic products in the region.

Representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia exchanged information and experience on the status of organic agriculture in their countries. They agreed to inform each other on the nationally approved certification bodies and aim at elaborating a common list of approved certification bodies to facilitate mutual acceptance and thus trade with organic products in the region. Future cooperation aim at harmonizing the national legislation with EU import rules and to achieve bilateral agreements for simplifying current import rules in the frame of free trade agreements (e.g. CEFTA).

The Round Table, organized by FiBL and Pro Bio, was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Macedonia and supported by the Swiss State Secretariate for Economic Affairs seco.

Further information:

Contact person at FiBL: Beate Huber
Projects of the FiBL group 'Developement and Cooperation'.