Azerbaijan finishes EU food safety project

Azerbaijan successfully completed an EU twinning project "Support to the Improvement of Legal and Technical Aspects of Food Quality and Safety Assurance and Certification Requirements of Azerbaijani Fishery Products" this week, Azerbaijani Deputy Economic Development Minister Sevinj Hasanova told Trend.

The project demonstrated the strong level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU, she said.

"Expanding relations with the EU is a major task for Azerbaijan," Hasanova said. "We have successfully implemented several projects to support food exports, the business environment and the non-oil sector."

According to the deputy minister, the twining project was highly successful, and a series of significant events were held in its framework.

EU Ambassador Roland Kobia said both sides are satisfied with the project. The EU has given support to Azerbaijan to improve its monitoring systems, train personnel and create specialized laboratories. The EU allocated 650,000 euro for the project.

The twining project began on Oct. 1, 2008 with the support of the Dutch and Latvian authorities. The project aimed to support economic development by improving food quality and safety in the fishery industry, enhancing consumer protection and increasing competitiveness on international markets. Azerbaijan received permission to export caviar to the EU on January 1st.


/Trend/