UNIDO launches its first Standards Compliance Analytics Report for Albania

On 2 May 2023, UNIDO launched its first Standards Compliance Analytics country report for Albania. The results of the detailed analysis on rates and reasons for border rejections for food products coming from Albania was presented to the Albanian Government and 16 key stakeholders during an online event. The results of the comprehensive analysis is being used to identify the key compliance challenges faced by exporting countries and thereby enhance targeting of investments in building relevant compliance capacities.

The launching event was organised with the honourable presence and contribution of the Albanian vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), representative of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE), the Deputy Ambassador of Switzerland, the Chairman of KASH, the National Food Authority (NAF), the General Directorate of Accreditation (GDA), the Director of the Directorate of Standardization (GDS) and deputy director of Directorate of Metrology (GDM).

During the event, the Swiss Embassy and the MoARD highlighted the importance that the report will have not only on the agricultural sector as a whole. The Albanian Vice Minister of MoARD Mr. Civici explicitly mentioned that "we as MoARD are very happy for the publication of this report which will be contributing to the whole industry".

The objective of the SCA report for Albania is to gain insights about the challenges faced by the country in complying with product quality and safety standards and regulations in agri-food trade towards both regional and global markets. The report was prepared by UNIDO and benefitted from the valuable feedback provided by the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MoFE), key quality infrastructure institutions, and the National Institute of Statistics. Based on the analysis of the standards compliance and border rejection data and consultations with various stakeholders, recommendations have been elaborated in three categories: strengthen the Quality Infrastructure System; enhance industry compliance, competitiveness and sustainability; and promote a conducive policy environment and culture for quality.

This report is developed under the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), funded by Switzerland through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The UNIDO Knowledge Hub contains a lot of information, online trainings, and digital tools about Quality Infrastructure including the SCA tool, which can be accessed here.

Download SCA Report for Albania here

For further information contact Dorina NATI, (d.nati [at] unido.org)