Strengthening the system of market surveillance of food and non-food products will increase the safety of products from Serbia and will allow them more access to the market of the European Union, said Tatjana Matić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications at the opening of the annual Summit on Market Surveillance today.
“With the introduction of the new system Serbia will gradually get better and better access to the EU market. This is one of the most useful things for the Serbian economy. The key task of the competent authorities in this system is to establish effective market surveillance which will guarantee that products fulfill the prescribed requirements while minimally burdening the economy”, stated Matić at the Summit organized by the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications and the EU project “Strengthening of the Serbian System of Market Surveillance for Non-Food and Food Products – MSS”. She emphasized that the implementation of the EU practice requires a new approach in conducting market surveillance activities in a manner that contributes to fair competition on the market, consumer protection as well as the protection of other aspects of public interest.
Andrew Foster, operations and policy director at the Trading Standards Institute, reported that the introduction of the new EU market surveillance system contributed significantly to the safety of consumers in Great Britain, but he spoke also of the challenges of the new system. The Head of projects in the EU delegation José Gomez explained that in the EU system the business entities themselves and not the regulatory bodies of market surveillance must take responsibility for the safety of their products and their conformity with the CE mark used in the European Union. This means that in order for the system to succeed, it must be understood by both inspectors and business entities, and the CE mark must become recognized among consumers.
There was a detailed discussion about the progress and challenges facing Serbia. Assistant Minister Lidija Stojanović and Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications Vera Despotović are working closely with a team of local and foreign experts through the EU funded project “Strengthening of the Serbian System of Market Surveillance for Non-Food and Food Products – MSS”. We are currently working on transferring the EU legislation regulating the minimum safety requirements for numerous priority products such as toys and cosmetics, so that Serbia can continue to advance towards full conformity with EU legislation on product safety, stated the Assistant Minister and Chief Market Inspector Lidija Stojanović. The project has trained more than 100 market inspectors so far; also, a new management information system will be introduced. The participants of the Summit were informed about the series of training which is to follow in order to support inspectors in the transition to the new EU market surveillance approach.
The Annual Summit was attended by more than 100 representatives of the business community and public institutions.
