CRITIC/Independent expert: The Prime Minister is lying, the government's performance is not very good, but excellent!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

EU integration, 85% of Albanian businesses risk closure, standards must be met

2026-05-24 12:49:27Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Illustrative photo

Business associations unanimously claim that the process of Albania's integration into the EU will bring increased food security and market formalization. But at the same time, it will also lead to the closure of unprepared businesses. The Association of the Union of Albanian Producers estimates that from the first surveys, only 15% of businesses are prepared for the EU, while about 98% of them do not have the financial means to cover the cost of the transformation themselves.

From political rhetoric, the issue of European integration has begun to enter the phase of assessments for meeting safety conditions. The first to pass the test are 904 food product operators.

With a list of tasks in hand, the National Food Authority (AKU) inspectors are knocking on every door to every business to provide assessments of compliance with the standards required by the European Union (EU).

As for businesses, the challenge of resolving the most difficult economic exercise of these 30 years of transition has begun. After the assessment made by the NFA, businesses are being classified into 4 categories (from Class I to Class IV). The assessment process will end on July 31, 2026.

In the dairy processing sector, among the first to be evaluated, processors' fear is the repetition of the Bulgarian model.

During Bulgaria's EU accession process, in 2005-2009, around 60 to 70% of small dairy processing businesses closed. Their exit from the market came after they failed to adapt to EU standards in the areas of food safety, technological innovation and the environment.

Taulant Pupa, director of the milk processing company "Vita 2001", believes that the Bulgarian model is the main reference for how the integration process in the dairy sector in Albania will be built.

He claims that the biggest problem is not the lack of standards in production technology or traceability of dairy products, but in the treatment of waste and wastewater within factories and dairies.

Pupa estimates that the cost of meeting the environmental standard is high, especially for small dairies and factories, which will be required as an immediate investment rather than implemented gradually over the years.

"The cost of setting up a plant that processes dairy industry waste in a dairy costs about 80 thousand euros, while for a large factory, up to 600 thousand euros. For many small businesses, these investments are practically unaffordable. A dairy cannot afford these costs.

"I think the state should intervene here for investments and help dairies that employ people, so that they don't close."

AKU, food safety assessments, businesses are being categorized into 4 Classes
For about 4 months, the National Food Authority (AKU) inspectors' corps will assess 904 food operators for compliance with food safety standards as required by the European Union.

The Director of the National Food Authority, Blerina Gjylameti, in an interview with "Monitor" explains that the assessment began on April 14 and has so far been completed for 225 businesses.

"The assessment and categorization procedure began on April 14 and will continue until July 31, 2026. The purpose of the categorization process is to identify facilities that are in compliance with legal requirements:

(Category 1) – Establishments that are found to be in full compliance with EU standards. (Categories 2, 3 and 4) – The classification into subcategories will serve to determine the level and extent of non-compliance. On the other hand, the resources and timeframe needed to manage and correct the identified issues should be calculated, as well as the procedures to be followed for the implementation and monitoring of the improvement process.

Compliance with food safety requirements, according to the legislation in force, is mandatory regardless of the categorization result, and in cases where it is determined that a food poses a risk to consumer health, immediate measures will be taken by the assessment bodies.

An inspection procedure will be initiated immediately with the aim of preventing the placing of harmful products on the market.

Category 1: classified establishments that operate in full compliance with EU requirements.

Category 2: classified establishments where minor non-conformities are observed that can be resolved over a short period of time (3-6 months).

Category 3: facilities are classified where significant non-conformities are noted (related to layout, building infrastructure, which require further works or renovations and significant financial resources or facilities that have been de-categorized from category 2) that can be improved over a longer period of time than that of category 2.

Action plans will be prepared for these facilities to correct non-compliances at a later stage.

Category 4: establishments are classified where major non-compliances are observed and the establishment: poses a significant risk to health; must not place products on the market; must be closed because it is not in compliance with national legislation; cannot meet EU standards. For category 4, the NFA takes measures to close the establishment.

Gjylameti emphasized that in addition to the assessment, the inspectors are also providing detailed instructions for improving the situation, in cases where some of the standards are found to be unfulfilled. The maximum deadline for improvements is up to one year.

At the end of the process, where the NFA will also have a clearer picture of the food security situation, a National Strategy is expected to be drafted, which according to Ms. Gjylameti will be aimed at solving problems.

Only 10–15% of businesses are considered prepared.
As Albania has entered the concrete phase of the assessment, the Albanian Producers' Association (BPSH) and the Albanian Agribusiness Council (KASH) raise the alarm about the low level of Albanian businesses that have declared that they are prepared with EU standards.

The Secretary General of the BPSH, Arben Shkodra, explains that in order to survive, transformation will be mandatory for all operators to adapt standards, including those for food safety, production technology, the traceability system they implement, environmental protection, employment certifications, etc.

But at this stage, according to him, most businesses have neither the information nor the financial capacity to carry out the transformation that EU integration requires.

"Based on a preliminary analysis conducted by the Ministry of Economy, according to self-declarations of businesses, it results that about 10 to 15% of them are relatively prepared to be part of the European Union.

"It results in another category that includes companies that have problems, but they can be solved. And there is another category that includes the largest number of businesses that do not meet any technical standards to be part of the European market, but that also have no idea how to meet them."

Shkodra says that from the first certification process, the sector most affected will be industrial food processing.

Cost invoice
The first questions regarding whether or not the costs can be covered arise from the analyses of business associations.

For the Association of Albanian Producers' Unions, according to Arben Shkodra, the biggest problem comes from the way the structure of the Albanian economy is built, dominated by small businesses that automatically increase the degree of financial inability to meet costs.

"Looking at the structure of enterprises in the country, where 99% of companies are microenterprises, 1 to 2% are small and medium-sized companies, 98% of businesses do not have real monetary opportunities and capacities to make the transformation, in order to achieve competitiveness and survival in the market," he states.

In the Southeast area, according to AKU estimates, 3 dairies have been closed so far. According to market sources, the closed dairies were operating in primitive conditions./  Taken with abbreviations from Monitor.al


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×