Italian Support to Agriculture

TIRANA, Dec. 6 – Italy has pledged concrete support to Albanian agriculture sector to set up a computerized land register as one of Albania’s key obligations in its EU integration road. This was confirmed last weekend by Italian Agriculture Minister Giancarlo Galan during a meeting in Tirana with his Albanian counterpart Genc Ruli.
The Italian Minister also offered support to establish Albania’s Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), describing the computerized real estate registration office and LPIS as key factors to implement development policies.
Both ministers discussed agri-industry and agri-tourism as a measure to strengthen farmers in slowly developing areas, tighter regulations to promote Albanian quality and bio products, and the functioning of an insurance system protecting farmers from natural disasters or market fluctuations.
The Italian government was also required to assist Albania in compiling technical documentation to resume the export of bivalve mollusks to EU countries, banned since 1995 after the seize of an infected box of mussels in Italy. The Albanian Agriculture Ministry says efforts to resume exports of mollusks during the past 15 years have proved unsuccessful despite measures to strengthen monitoring, safety and testing of samples under EU standards.
The meeting in Tirana came four months after minister Ruli visited Italy and was considered another step ahead of next year, when the two countries are expected to sign an official deal on agricultural support and cooperation.
Italy’s Galan also met Prime Minister Berisha, who called for Italian expertise to further develop Albania’s two major national projects of olive groves and fruit and nut and assist the country’s product certification.
Italy’s which is Albania’s top trade partner, has been implementing a number of projects supporting the Albanian agriculture.
Currently, the Italian Development Cooperation Office in Albania is implementing five grant projects, worth more than 5 million euros to assist the rural development of northern Albanian areas and strengthen food control institutions.
INSTAT data show the agricultural sector was one of the best performing during the second quarter of this year, growing by 4.8 percent year-on-year and 1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2010.