Meeting of the ministers from the Ministries responsible for Agriculture and Food from South-Eastern Europe

April 4-5, 2013 – Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group initiated and organized a Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture from SEE.

In the light of the emerging problem in the SEE region related to the appearance of the Aflatoxins in the fodders and consequently in the dairy products for human consumption, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group initiated and is organized a Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture from SEE.

The meeting was held in Bosnia and Herzegovina, started on the 4th of April in the hotel “Termag“ on Jahorina and continued the next day at the Parliament Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

The aim of the meeting was for the Ministers from the Ministries responsible for Agriculture and Food from SEE to discuss and possibly agree on the following issues:

 ■Establishment of permanent communication channels of the Institutions in the SEE countries which are dealing with Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Control and Quality testing, Fodder and Food products for human consumption;

 ■Exchange of information about the Control mechanisms and Food Safety Chain;

 ■Agreement about the measures and provisional action plan for improved communication and coordination between the Ministries;

The Ministers and the members of their delegations discussed on the basis of the conclusions previously adopted by the technical Expert Advisory Working Group (comprised of prominent experts from the SEE countries working in the field of Veterinary Sciences, Phyto-sanitary and Animal Feeding).

One of the conclusions was related to the use of a regional reference laboratory for the analysis of mycotoxins in feed and food, and the need was highlighted to equalize the sampling procedures for food and feed, harmonized with EU regulations.

It was concluded that additional efforts would be invested in the provision of additional forms of support for milk producers in order to enable them to purchase healthy food for livestock, and thus maintain production and milk quality at the same level as before the onset of aflatoxin. It was also agreed to establish a protocol which would define how to deal with contaminated animal feed, in accordance with EU regulations.