An assessment has revealed what is going well and which bits need work regarding the food safety systems of five potential European Union countries.
The reports cover progress in the past 12 months and the level of preparation in Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Serbia.
Ukraine expanded use of the EU’s trade control and expert system (TRACES). It now covers 24 commodities, with 36,000 certificates issued from September 2024 to July 2025. Also, measures were introduced to counter illegal grain export.
Ukraine participates in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) without full membership, and the epidemiological surveillance system still needs to be integrated with the relevant EU systems. Several pieces of legislation will enter into force with the primary GMO law in September 2026.
Reform continued at the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection to align with EU standards. Legislation was adopted related to products of animal origin and improved risk management. Ukraine was urged to continue the reform of food safety bodies and strengthen official controls to meet EU requirements.
Albania and Montenegro
In Albania, legislation on official controls is not yet aligned with the EU’s Official Controls Regulation (OCR). Efforts are needed by the authorities on enforcement in cases of non-compliance and risk management concerning pesticide residues and food placed on the market. The National Food Authority (AKU) was told to strengthen its focus on inspection statistics, data management and transparency.
The country continued to partially align with the EU on food additives and identification of maximum levels for certain contaminants. No progress was made on developing a national program to improve milk quality, on communicable diseases or on serious cross-border health threats.
Albania was asked to ensure that authorities have the capacity to properly implement and enforce the laws, including resources for official controls, and sufficient lab capacities as well as clear separation between risk management and risk assessment at the National Food Authority.
Limited progress was made in recruiting staff to the Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Affairs of Montenegro. Capacities, including infrastructure of official laboratories and border control posts, are still not sufficient for operation of the official control system, according to the report.
The EU Commission’s recommendations from last year were partially implemented and remain mostly valid. One of them is to strengthen inspections and infrastructure to implement the system of official controls, address conflicts of interest, and upgrade establishments producing food, feed and animal by-products to meet EU structural standards.
Moldova and Serbia
Moldova strengthened official controls oversight including the labeling of food products in line with EU standards and clearly designated the responsible authorities. A law on official controls was adopted, ensuring broad alignment with the EU.
Implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) by food operators at stages of production, processing, and distribution was identified as a concern.
New microbiological testing methods were accredited at the national reference laboratory. However, there is still a need for a national network of labs and a multiannual control plan.
Moldova was advised to improve administrative capacities at the National Food Safety Agency for work involving risk-based official controls.
Serbia continues to have an inefficient risk-based approach to food imports and needs to meet more requirements to start exporting fresh eggs and fresh poultry, and pork meat to the EU, according to the report.
No progress was recorded on aligning the permitted level of aflatoxins in milk with EU limits and the Veterinary Directorate is struggling with understaffing. Surveillance and response capabilities for serious cross-border health threats, including communicable diseases, remain limited and need to be modernized.
Serbia was told to prioritize upgrading establishments producing food, feed and animal by products to meet EU structural standards.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here)