Food and Agriculture Alliance discusses the achieved results and further steps

In the first two months of operation of the web portal www.sezonskiradnici.gov.rs, farmers have electronically registered more than 20,000 working days for the hired seasonal workers, as announced within the Food and Agriculture Alliance meeting held on 7 March in NALED.

The Alliance members declared this a major success, given that prior to the introduction of the simplified procedure, the hiring of seasonal workers was most often carried out in the shadow zone. More than 20,000 recorded days also mean that employers have paid over six million dinars into the budget for taxes and contributions, as well as that the registered workers, in addition to remuneration, have been entitled to pension and injury insurance.

Among the significant results in 2018, the members highlighted the establishment of the Expert Working Group on Food and Agriculture, a body that brings together representatives of line institutions and businesses around the common goal of improving regulatory and institutional solutions in the field of food and agriculture.

The meeting announced that in the coming months the Alliance would focus on monitoring the adoption of the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Food Safety, with a series of comments and recommendations being addressed to the line ministry. The Alliance will also nominate new topics for the work of the Expert Working Group on Food and Agriculture, notably in the area of addressing food fraud, alignment with EU regulations, and for optimizing particularly important administrative procedures in the food and agriculture sector.

The meeting, which also discussed regulations in the area of the food industry, including new foods and new EU regulations in the area of food labeling, as well as initiatives to combat illegal trade, was chaired by Vladimir Čupić, Director of Atlantic Group and President of the Alliance.

Food and Agriculture Alliance was established in late 2017 and brings together 40 NALED members from the private sector, local governments and civil sector representatives.