Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

166The implementation of this recommendation is in progress. A list of hotspots was established. The MiningDivision of MoETE is monitoring these sites and has developed a plan for their remediation. Progress inspecific areas is as follows:• The perception of threats from contaminated sites is still low in Albania. People were relocated from thePorto Romano area.• Five hotspots were cleaned completely and clean-up of several others continues. The majority of hotspotswere investigated and new sites were added to the list.• There is no new information available on water contamination from polluted sites.• Investigation of hotspots included identification of populations in danger and characterization of risks.• Remediated sites include fencing of areas of highest risk.(b) The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Industry and Energy should apply appropriate legislationto improve waste-water treatment for all industrial facilities in operation in order to prevent furthercontamination of the environment and, in particular, oil losses during oil exploration, transport andrefinery. (see also recommendation 6.4)See implementation of Recommendation 6.4.Recommendation 7.4:The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food should collect and find ways to contain,store, and destroy obsolete pesticides and other toxic chemicals in order to reduce risk. Cooperation withneighbouring countries and the international community could help solve this problem. The recommendation has been implemented. All obsolete pesticides were exported for proper destruction.Recommendation 7.5:The Ministry of Environment, in close cooperation with the private sector and line ministries, should promotethe establishment of a cleaner production centre, which would: conduct environmental audits, provide training and disseminate information on cleaner production; and promote the introduction of ISO 14000 standards.Implementation of the recommendation is not completed. However, privatization of industries leads to theintroduction of cleaner technologies.The National Cleaner Production Programme for Albania (NCPP-Albania) is part of the One UN Programmeimplemented in Albania and is aimed at building the capacities of Albanian industries to be more resourceefficient and to reduce their environmental impacts by promoting Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production(RECP). The project is being jointly implemented by MoEFWA and MoETE with technical support fromUNEP and UNIDO.NCPP-Albania consists of two components which are being implemented in parallel: a) an industrial supportcomponent, which is aimed at building capacities for RECP demonstration and application in Albanianindustries (supported by UNIDO), and b) a policy component, which is aimed at developing the necessaryinstitutional framework for the effective promotion of RECP (supported by UNEP).NCPP-Albania was officially launched on 30 March 2010 and will be implemented over a period of three yearsin three phases. The primary aim is to foster the widespread application of RECP methods, practices,technologies and policies among businesses and other organizations to contribute to sustainable industrialdevelopment and sustainable consumption and production in Albania. The Programme includes capacitydevelopment, promotion and professional training, industry demonstrations and support for the creation ofsupportive policy mechanisms. It targets the hotel/tourism accommodation, agro- and food-processing, andmining and metallurgical sectors.ISO certification is being conducted by several companies, mostly with assistance from foreign companies.Information concerning the current number of certified companies in accordance with international standardISO 14001 is not available. There are some private companies in Albania that have been certified by