Negotiation Chapter 12 covers all the measures and standards that a candidate country must implement to ensure safe and high-quality food products on its market, protect the health of humans, animals, and plants, and enable unrestricted access to the EU’s common market.

To fully protect the health and interests of consumers, the European Union applies an integrated “from farm to table” approach, which describes how the EU addresses food safety policies across the entire chain—from farm production, through processing, distribution, and storage, to the final consumer. The goal of this approach is to ensure quality and safety control at each step, preventing risks to human health and the environment.

In negotiating this chapter, the candidate country must align with EU legislation and strengthen administrative capacities capable of implementing the legislation. Furthermore, it is necessary to build and improve the required infrastructure, all in line with EU standards.

Subareas?

The EU legal acquis in this chapter consists of three parts—subareas:

• Food Safety covers rules on hygiene and food trade, control of animal-origin products and by-products, food labeling and advertising, additives, contaminants, and animal feed.
• Veterinary Policy covers market and import controls, animal registration, disease control measures, animal trade, control of banned substances, and animal welfare and health.
• Phytosanitary Policy covers rules on plant health, control measures, protected zones, plant passports, trade in protective products, and the quality of seeds and planting material.

This chapter also covers regulations related to genetically modified organisms.

When was the chapter opened?

Negotiation Chapter 12—Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control was opened at the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels on June 30, 2016.

Opening benchmarks?

Montenegro had three opening benchmarks within negotiation Chapter 12:

• Montenegro must adopt a new legal framework aligned with EU law, clearly defining the responsibilities, particularly of control bodies.
• Montenegro must present a comprehensive national strategy, including an action plan, which will serve as the basis for transposing and applying EU law for food safety, veterinary, and phytosanitary policies, including plans for developing relevant administrative capacities and assessing the financial resources required. Special attention must be given to the development of a detailed action plan for controlling and eradicating classical swine fever in domestic and wild pigs once vaccination is phased out.
• Montenegro must submit to the Commission the classification of all food establishments and establishments handling animal by-products, based on EU law, which will form the basis for the future National Program for the Improvement of Food Establishments and Animal By-Products.

Through the alignment of the legal framework in this chapter with EU law, the adoption of Montenegro’s Strategy for Transposing and Implementing EU Law for Chapter 12—Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy, with the General Action Plan and Specific Action Plan for Controlling and Eradicating Classical Swine Fever on September 10, 2015, as well as the adoption of the Decision on Implementing the Procedure for Assessing Compliance with EU Requirements (Categorization) of Approved Food Handling Establishments and Establishments for Animal By-Products on September 3, 2014, Montenegro has fulfilled the initial benchmarks.

Closing benchmarks?

Under negotiation Chapter 12, Montenegro is required to fulfill the following closing benchmarks:

• Montenegro must submit an approved national program for the improvement of establishments handling animal-origin products, including those for animal by-products. Regarding the milk sector, the national program must also include a strategy for dealing with non-compliant raw milk.
• Montenegro must provide the Commission with a guarantee for establishing a system compatible with the EU system for official controls of live animals and animal-origin products, including its financing.
• Montenegro must continue to establish and develop relevant administrative structures, in line with EU law, particularly regarding food safety controls, and continue to strengthen its administrative capacities and infrastructure. Montenegro must demonstrate that it will have the necessary administrative capacities for the proper implementation of all EU law covered in this chapter.

Activities in the next period?

In order to fulfill the closing benchmarks, the Government of Montenegro adopted the National Program for the Improvement of Animal-Origin Product Establishments and Animal By-Product Handling Establishments on July 12, 2017, with a requirement for semi-annual reporting on the implementation to both the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission

Additionally, the Government of Montenegro adopted the National Program for the Improvement of Raw Milk Quality, with a plan for handling non-compliant raw milk, on June 21, 2018, thus fulfilling the obligations arising from the first closing benchmark.

Work on fulfilling the second and third closing benchmarks is ongoing. However, it should be noted that fulfilling these benchmarks is highly complex and requires substantial financial resources. Montenegro is continuously making efforts to ensure effective administration and appropriate infrastructure, which requires a period of several years.