Department of Strategy and Donor Coordination

Regarding safety of marketed industrial products, continuous efforts were made by the Central Technical
Inspectorate to utilise the existing capacities to carry out their activities in the field of market surveillance,
focusing first on the four main Albanian cities (Tirana, Durrës, Fier, Shkodra) and then expanding to the other
main southern cities of the country, contributing in doing so to the transformation of the Inspectorate to an
efficient structure of market surveillance according to European best practices. At the same time, regarding
removal of dangerous products from the market, the Directorate of Market Surveillance co-ordinated its
activities with the Directorate General of Customs and the Central Technical Inspectorate. However, it should
be kept in mind that safety of industrial products to the consumers and market surveillance are relatively new
concepts in Albania, both legally and institutionally. Much remains to be done before Albanian consumers
can feel protected and safe to a proper level. In this regard, during the coming period, special attention shall
be paid to implementation of the legal framework.
Regarding food safety, 33,000 controls were conducted across the twelve regions of the country. National
plans have been devised and are implemented for control of animal diseases and plant pests, monitoring
programmes for diseases, residue testing in animals and food products of animal origin, monitoring of water
and of bivalve molluscs, establishment at the national level of an animal identification system and farm
registration, and strengthening of veterinary and phytosanitary quarantine, as well as use of best practices
with regard to protection of plant health. The laboratory network was strengthened even further and work was
done to increase the professional capacities of veterinary staff, the plant protection and food safety service,
establishment of a self-control system and traceability of food products, establishment of a Rapid Alert system
and its integration into the European network and timely provision of information for consumers.
Further, plans are made to establish before the end of 2009, with the support of an EU-led project, the Albanian
National Food Authority, as the sole institution responsible, empowered and provided with the infrastructure
necessary to conduct market surveillance and guarantee food safety in Albania. During the forthcoming
period, food safety and veterinary laboratories and complete identification and registration of livestock will
be prioritised.
3.2.4 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECNOLOGY
Indicator: e-Readiness
According to data on e-Government readiness, presented in the UN report e-Government Survey 2008, Albania
is listed as number 86 among 182 countries evaluated in this report, climbing fourteen places from its position
in 2005. Figure 22 shows the e-Government index of Albania for the period 2004–2008, and compared to other
SEE countries for 2008.
Figure 22. E-readiness indicator data for SEE countries 2004–2008
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.34
0.3732
0.4282
0.4282
0.565
0.4828 0.4866
0.6 0.5383
0.3459
0.2
0.1
0
2004
2006
2008
Montenegro
Croatia
Serbia
Macedonia
Bulgaria
Romania
Moldavia
Albania Other SEE countries for 2008
Source: UN e-Government Survey, 2008
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