A Hungarian-led EU Twining project entitled “Developing the capacity of the Serbian authorities with relation to treating zoonoses and food-borne diseases” is being realised with French and Serbian participation.

The opening conference of the two-year programme was held in Belgrade on 4 April 2017, which in addition to the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection’s State Secretary, was also attended by Hungary’s and France’s ambassadors to Belgrade, and by Hungary’s Chief Veterinarian Lajos Bognár, who praised the cooperation. In addition to providing professional support, the project is also providing significant assistance towards the EU accession process of the Republic of Serbia’s state bodies.

The two-year twinning development project will be realised under Hungarian leadership in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO), to which France’s Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry has also joined as a partner. The Serbian Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal Health Directorate will also be involved.

The project was opened by the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection’s State Secretary Attila Juhász. In his speech, Mr. Juhász highlighted the fact that the participants, Hungary France and the European Commission, are Serbia’s leading partners on the road towards EU accession, including via pre-accession IPŐA programmes and other agricultural and rural development support. “This project serves the general improvement of food safety and public health, but also provides significant assistance in helping the Republic of Serbia’s state bodies achieve EU harmonisation and fulfil EU requirements, which are one of the main topics of Chapter 12 of the EU accession negotiations”, he explained.

Hungary’s Ambassador to Belgrade Attila Pintér and French Ambassador Christine Moro praised the excellent cooperation between the three countries, and especially within the field of agriculture.

The twinning development project’s leader, Deputy State Secretary and Hungary’s Chief Veterinary Officer Lajos Bognár stressed that Serbia will be receiving significant professional assistance towards the treatment of zoonoses (diseases that are passed from animals to humans), food-borne diseases and resistance to antibiotics. This will facilitate harmonisation to the relative EU legal requirements in view of the fact that each of these topics were afforded particular attention in the EU’s 2016 report on Serbia, he explained.

At the conference it was stated with relation to food safety and public health that providing a high-level public health and consumer protection system requires the operation of an integrated monitoring system, as well as suitable data collection and analysis. Sustainable cooperation between human and animal health authorities is indispensable within all fields of public health.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)