Georgia: Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia attends 30th session of ENPARD

Tbilisi: Minister of Environment and Agriculture Otar Shamugia attended the 30th session of the governing committee of the EU Program – “European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development” (ENPARD). The minister thanked the EU for its constant support for the development of both rural and agriculture in Georgia, as well as environmental protection.

“Under the ENPARD program, a number of important initiatives aimed at advancing and strengthening our country, both in agriculture and rural development have been supported. Today, when the relations between Georgia and the EU are at a new stage – we have a European perspective and are actively working towards the status of a candidate country, cooperation and support with our partners is particularly important.

 Progress has been made in many areas, but challenges remain and the Ministry, with its departments, is actively working to overcome them.

By an association agreement with the EU, we commit to bring our legislation into line with EU legal acts. For today, there are talks about 200 regulations, directives and resolutions approximate in the years 2015-2028. It should be noted that at this point our legislation is already close to 180+ EU legal acts, with most of them being enacted. 

Enforcement of certain acts that, coupled with large financial resources, require private sector training and strengthening the capacity of state institutions, remain the challenge. In the technical assistance sector, we have the support of the EU and other partners, for which we thank them again. 

We are ready to implement all reforms that will enable the effective management of the integration process with the EU,” Otar Shamugia said.

 At the meeting, the members of the governing committee discussed the state of implementation of commitments for 2022-2023 within the framework of the 4th phase of ENPARD budget assistance. The talks covered sanitary plant certification, strengthening of the National Food Agency and indicators related to the quality management system, ensuring the functioning of Local Development Groups (LAGs) with the European LEADER approach, development of laboratory capabilities, food safety and food safety issues.

 ENPARD governing committee meeting was held with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The event were attended by the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture and the Heads of relevant agencies within its system, representatives of the European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Czech Development Agency (CzDA), Sweden Agency for International Development and Cooperation (SIDA).

 After the end of the ENPARD governing committee session, a meeting of the supervisory board of the project “Food Safety and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Sector in Georgia” was also held.