The Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade, Rozeta Hajdari, participated in the closing ceremony of the project “EU Support for Free Movement of Goods”.
The Minister said that they are celebrating the results of four years of close cooperation, between the European Union and Kosovo, in the field of Quality Infrastructure and Consumer Protection for safer products, reliable testing, accurate measurements, increased protection of consumer and better and more standard access.
"Implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement is one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and one of the goals of this agreement is the Free Movement of Goods. In this regard, Kosovo seeks to expand trade relations with the EU and other countries where the implementation of international standards and the adoption of international best practices is a common goal of the countries", said Minister Hajdari.
She said, that she believes the EU-funded Free Movement of Goods project has significantly contributed to improving product safety, consumer protection and Kosovo's quality infrastructure.
"Our joint efforts to implement the project have been important in bringing forward proposals that are beneficial to the sector's legal reforms, including standards and metrology, consumer protection and specialized inspection. The contribution of this project is that it improves the competitiveness of enterprises, creates a system for citizens to provide safer products and better services, and increases the confidence of our buyers and business partners. So these results form the foundation on which we can build trade bridges. "Accreditation and Metrology create trust in the test results and certificates in Kosovo for products, medical tests, skills, respectively competencies", said Hajdari.
According to the minister, the improvement and protection of the consumer creates trust for both of them, consumers and traders. “Therefore, the institutionalization of all these results really creates trust for consumers as well as traders and I think it is a great achievement that the project has provided an opportunity to cooperate with departments and agencies in MIET, such as the Kosovo Standardization Agency, Metrology Agency, the General Directorate of Accreditation, the Market Inspectorate and the Department of Consumer Protection together with their European counterparts to obtain knowledge and information and to learn the best and most appropriate practices for our country. I hope that the results of the current cooperation will extend beyond the time limit of the project ", said Minister Hajdari.
Moreover, Minister Hajdari also stressed that they will continue working with Kosovo's partner, the EU, to strengthen trade initiatives, consumer protection, product safety, as well as to link policies and strengthen the implementation.
The EU Special Representative in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, assessed that the project "Free Movement of Goods", funded by the EU, has had great achievements.
"This good example of cooperation between Kosovo and the EU, where technical barriers are removed, such as various administrative procedures, enables trade to flourish with further economic development and ensures that opportunities for economic growth translate into better efforts for economic diversification and sustainable development.
"This project supports Kosovo in raising standards and helps businesses to extend their products to international markets," he said.
Whereas, the head of the project “Free Movement of Goods”, Vitomir Fister, said that the project aimed to support quality infrastructure, market surveillance, increase the protection of consumer rights, as well as to improve the production process and the safety of products.
He expressed satisfaction that after 3 and a half years of work, the goal of the project has been achieved by influencing the improvement of these areas.
