Skopje, 5 February 2021

Harmonization of the current cattle breeding and production legislation

The EU accession process also includes the adoption of an agricultural policy model, including many conceptual, administrative and financial adaptations of the existing domestic model to the EU policies. Therefore, reforms are needed in order to harmonize the legal and institutional set-up of the country in relation to the EU's single market and in order to enable simple integration of the agricultural sector of the EU candidate country. Hence, legislation harmonization, policy reform and economic adjustment during the accession negotiation process of the candidate country, are required.

In the framework of the cooperation between the project “Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia” and the Croatian Centre of Excellence, by means of an online workshop, the Croatian expert Mr. Sasha Paprika assisted domestic institutions in further harmonization of the new Law on Cattle Breeding, which is currently being drafted. The workshop included discussions on various aspects of the harmonization process, which arise from the 1012.2016 EU Regulation. It includes rules on the implementation of the animal breeding programme, the involvement of operators and their role as well as the competencies of other domestic institutions. The workshop was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, representatives of the Secretariat for European Affairs as well as inspection bodies in order to ensure compliance at the level of all stakeholders.

During the recent years, the Republic of Croatia has strongly supported the Republic of North Macedonia in the process of EU accession. This political support is constantly present within the EU itself through various highest-level processes. In addition, the Republic of Croatia, through its Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, continuously provides technical support to the national institutions in the country. Part of the support takes place within the project "Nordic Support for Progress of North Macedonia". With the support from the Croatian experts, the final draft law will be processed and submitted to the parliamentary procedure during the following period.