Events
Closing ceremony of the Twinning Project
Increased competitiveness of Serbian companies and industry on the European Union market - this is the result of the implementation of the Twinning project "Strengthening the capacity of the national system for quality infrastructure and bodies for assessing product conformity in the Republic of Serbia", through which, for this purpose, EUR 1,000,000 was invested.
"Interaction of the Serbian economy into the single market of the European Union is one of the strategic goals of Serbia. The experiences of EU member states help us achieve this goal, through projects such as this, " said Assistant Minister of Economy Aleksandar Starčević at the Closing Ceremony of the Twinning Project at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Belgrade.
He added that the project contributed to the improvement of a system that enables the Serbian economy to market quality and safe products, both internationally and on the domestic market.
Czech Ambassador to Serbia Ivana Hlavsova pointed out that the cooperation with the Ministry of Economy has always been high and stressed out the exchange of experience and cooperation is important, having in mind that the Czech Republic has significant experience in the field of product quality testing.
She stressed out that the project helped Serbia to be closer to EU standards and that the Czech Republic expressed full support for Serbia's commitment to becoming a member of the EU.
Head of the European Integration and Economic Affairs Department of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Radica Nusdorfer, reminds that the European Union has been supporting the Quality Infrastructure Sector with a non-refundable donation of 15 million euros in equipment and technical assistance for more than 15 years.
"It is important for us that the Serbian economy is aware of its obligations in the area of product safety, so our project cooperation will be directed towards small and medium-sized enterprises, consumers and institutions in the chain of quality infrastructure in the future," said Nusdorfer.
The twining project, which was closed today, helped build an efficient and internationally recognized quality infrastructure system in Serbia. This has enabled domestic enterprises and industry better conditions for the implementation of technical legislation and the application of standards for products and management systems.
Thanks to the project, technical legislation has been improved and even more harmonized with European regulations in the field of metrology, pre-packaged products, aerosols, toys, ATEX and lifts.
The capacities of the Sector for Quality and Product Safety of the Ministry of Economy in terms of providing services and assistance to the industry have been improved, and the capacities of the national institutions of quality infrastructure for the implementation of technical legislation and the application of standards have also been strengthened.
The project was aimed at improving the protection of the safety and health of consumers, ie improving the protection of consumers' interests, raising the competitiveness of Serbia's economy, eliminating unnecessary barriers to trade in the light of EU negotiations in order to facilitate trade in goods between the EU and Serbia and strengthening national institutions of quality infrastructure.
The Twinning Project started on October 1, 2015, and its realization lasted 25 months.
Through the project financed from the pre-accession funds of the European Union and the budget of the Republic of Serbia in the total value of 1,000,000 Euros, the importance of fulfilling the requirements from the European technical regulations was promoted. The project is funded from IPA funds with 900,000 euros and through national co-financing of 100,000 euros.
The project was implemented in partnership by a consortium from the Czech Republic (Czech Metrology Institute, Czech Standards Office, Metrology and Testing and the Czech Institute for Accreditation) and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia.
