Republic of Albania Reach Regulation for Various Sectors

This is the legal framework for regulating the protection of animal health and wellbeing, the functioning and financing of veterinary service/inspectorate and protection of public health against zoonotic diseases in the Republic of Albania was published on 2011.  The law also sets provisions regarding other items, such as food safety, including animal transport and transport of animal products, slaughtering of agricultural animals for food production and maximum residue limits in animal products. This law came into force 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

The purposes of this law are:

1. To protect and improve the health of aquatic and terrestrial animals.

2. To establish procedures for preventing, monitoring, diagnosing, treating, and eradicating animal diseases.

3. To protect the public health against zoonotic diseases that are transmitted from animals and harmful residues in animal products consumed by humans.

4. To ensure the implementation of the sanitary-veterinary measures on the animal products produced at farms, raw materials, pastures, water and drinking places for animals.

5. To protect the reproductive health of animals and to ensure an increase in production and animal breeding.

6. To protect the environment from infections, poison, animal waste and pollution (biological, physical, chemical, radiobiological) with harmful consequences to animal and human health.

7. To establish the procedures of training and information of the veterinarians, animal owners or keepers and the public on veterinary matters.

8. To protect animals against torture and to provide their welfare.

9. To protect wild animals.

10. To ensure safe disposal of dead animals and their carcasses, confiscates, animal wastes and by-products not for human consumption.

11. To establish obligations of farmers, physical and legal persons, in implementation of this law. 

The law has three objectives. The first one is to establish the main principles for the protection of animal health and wellbeing in compliance with the international standards of the International Animal Health Organization (OIE) and the European Union. The second is to arrange, organize, and finance the veterinary service, the responsibilities, rules, and procedures of the veterinary service to protect animal health and wellbeing. The third is to protect the public health in the Republic of Albania from zoonotic diseases transmittable by animals, according to EU legislation.

Products covered by this law and the HS Codes it regards:

Live animals

Food products of animal origin

Animal by-products

Feed

Veterinary medicinal products

HS codes

0104 - Live sheep and goats

0204 - Meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled, or frozen

0203 - Meat of swine, fresh, chilled, or frozen

0102 - Live bovine animals

2309 - Preparations of a kind used in animal feeding

0103 - Live swine

0201 - Meat of bovine animals, fresh or chilled

0511 - Animal products n.e.s.; dead animals of all types, unfit for human consumption