Countries: Serbia

USAID’s CRDA-E program supported introduction of food safety standards in 56 Serbian companies

"Signing the contract for introduction of a quality management and food safety system, we managed to expand our export market for fermented cabbages as the main product of our family business in Futog oriented towards vegetable processing and managed by my mother, my sister and myself. Certification of the system is to be done in November 2006 so that in early 2007 we can keep supplying our export customers that require a valid certificate on quality standardization.“ – Julkica Jelčić, a trainee and owner of private company „Janja d.o.o.“ for vegetable processing, located in Futog near Novi Sad.

Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are facing rising restrictions to their food exports due to limited knowledge about international food safety requirements associated with implementation of EU and other HACCP/ISO quality management programs.  International companies are reluctant to work with Serbian food suppliers prior to introduction of a standardized and certified system that provides customers with the confidence that the quality of products are well managed and documented by the producer.  Most Serbian consumers are concerned about the safety and quality of many foods available locally. Many Serbian supermarket chains and quality conscious restaurants often reject locally produced foods out of concern about sanitation and other food quality issues.  Also, recent surveys completed by SME agencies in the region identified the lack of quality control and food safety standards as one of the major constraints to moving products of Serbian export oriented businesses to foreign markets.

To help overcome this obstacle, USAID through the CRDA-E program worked with the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture to organize a HACCP and related ISO 9001/14000 standards certification program. The program started with a food processing plant inspection program and introductory seminars by internationally accredited and regionally based inspection and training companies.  As a result, one hundred companies and cooperatives were selected based on pre-established criteria to undergo the intensive hands-on training program to introduce management and food safety standards. USAID through all five CRDA-E implementing partners, whose cooperation on this project was coordinated by America’s Development Foundation (ADF), provided $300,000 to cover consulting costs for training, while businesses participating in the training matched the costs by paying the pre-assessment costs and covering a portion of certification costs.
 
By mid-2006, all training participants received direct technical assistance from USAID/CRDA-E to prepare documentation to apply to the Ministry Agriculture for subsidized certification costs, so that the companies participating in USAID/CRDA-E training could benefit from the opportunity provided through the Ministry’s budget for standardization programs. Thus, the Ministry of Agriculture has agreed to subsidize 80% of the costs for 56 certification requests by training participants and will spend US $ 200,000 by October 2006 to provide the companies with advanced funding for certification purposes.