September 3, 2010

Azerbaijan completes EU food safety project

Azerbaijan has successfully completed a collaborative project with EU, titled "Support to the improvement of legal and technical aspects of food quality and safety assurance and certification requirements of Azerbaijani fishery products" this week, said Azerbaijani Deputy Economic Development Minister, Sevinj Hasanova.

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 specialised laboratories. The EU allocated EUR650,000 (US$833,000) for the project.

The project began on October 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 1.