The closing ceremony for the Twinning light project “Development of the Legislative and Institutional Framework for the Effective Alignment and Implementation of the Acquis in the Area of Fisheries in the Republic of Serbia” was held today, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia and the administrative support of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency of the Republic of Croatia implemented an eight-month project financed through the European Union’s IPA (2014) programme in the amount of 243.629 EUR. The Contracting Authority for this project is the Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes (CFCU) of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia.

The implementation of the project started on 3 February 2019, and its main objective was to provide support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in strengthening the administrative capacities for the development and implementation of legislation and reform of the institutional framework in the sector of fisheries in terms of trade and market. Also, the focus was on the introduction to the system and procedures in the field of fisheries through presentation of the EU rules and examples in which these rules have been successfully implemented in Croatia.

Participants from Serbia and Croatia gathered at the closing ceremony of the project and presentation of the achieved results. The closing ceremony was opened by the State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Mr Senad Mahmutović.

Head of Operations III in the Delegation of the EU to the Republic of Serbia Mr Hourdas Sakellaris, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr Gordan Bakota, Head of the Sector and the Member State Project Leader Mr Mario Rogošić from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia and the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia, Mr Ante Mišura, addressed the participants.

The speakers emphasized the importance of the Twinning light project as a tool for sharing knowledge, transferring experiences and improving the functioning of institutions.

Afterwards, presentations were held indicating the main objectives and the achieved results, which were divided into four main components, namely the established base for national catch certification scheme in accordance with the EU requirements, introduced system for control and prevention of IUU, introduced fishery products marketing standards and strengthened control of fishery products on the market.