TIRANA, March 20 – Albanian sheep and goats and their meat have been given the green light to be exported to Serbia, penetrating regional markets for the first time following a 30-year halt dating back to the late 1980s when the country was still under communism and farming was a state-run business.
The deal paving the way for the recognition by Serbian authorities of Albanian health certificates on exports of sheep and goats as well as fresh mutton, lamb and goat meat came after Serbia’s agriculture minister Branislav Nedimović visited Albania earlier this month to initiate joint work on unifying certificates accompanying plant and animal-based products, a key barrier preventing current modest trade exchanges between the two key Western Balkan countries.
Albania’s agriculture ministry says the deal has already entered into force and Albanian farmers now have a new opportunity to export their sheep and goats as well as fresh meat to the region’s largest economy.
“This is great news for Albanian farmers whose production was up to now destined only for the internal market. From now on, this market is expanded by another market of 7 million residents such as that of Serbia,” Albania’s agriculture ministry said in a statement.
Sheep and goats in Albania are mainly bred in pastures, which makes them attractive to the Serbian market mainly importing from countries applying intensive farming techniques.
Albania has some 3 million sheep and goats, producing an annual 2.4 million lambs and kids whose market value is estimated at about €191 million when they each produce 10 to 15 kg of meat.
Albanian agriculture authorities say this is the first step toward Albanian animal and meat products tapping European Union markets, where Albanian meat exports have yet to meet safety standards.
The deal also serves the increase of Albania’s modest agriculture-dominated exports to Serbia, currently five times lower than what Albania imports from Serbia.
Albania exports to Serbia slightly rose to 4.8 billion lek (€36.4 mln) in 2017 and were dominated by vegetables, shoes and minerals, according to Albania’s state-run statistical institute, INSTAT.
Trade exchanges between the two countries hit a record high of about 30 billion lek (€227 million) in 2017, fuelled by an almost 40 percent increase in Albania’s imports from Serbia, leading to a wider trade gap with Serbia.
Lack of unified certificates is a barrier hampering Albania’s agriculture trade exchanges with all regional countries, including Kosovo, despite the CEFTA regional free trade agreement in place.
The deal with Serbia also come at a time when all regional countries prepare to adopt measures for an EU-backed regional economic area where goods, services, investments and skilled workers can move without obstacles as a test before the region’s apparent eventual European Union integration that the European Commission says is not going to happen before 2025.
Currently, only Serbia and Montenegro are conducting accession talks with the European Commission, with EU candidates Albania and Macedonia hoping to launch negotiations this year and Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo still potential candidates.
Albania and Serbia have been closely working in the past few years to overcome historical barriers preventing closer economic cooperation and investment.
Serbian foreign direct investment have in the past three years climbed to a modest stock of €20 million while Albanian investment in Serbia is almost non-existent.
Prospects seem optimistic as the two leading EU aspirant Western Balkans countries have already improved access with the launch of the direct Belgrade-Tirana flights by Air Serbia carrier and are on track to be linked through a shorter distance through the extension of the Albania-Kosovo highway to Nis, south-eastern Serbia.
