International training course 5-9 September 2022 – Slovak Republic
A delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development of Kosovo (MAFRD) and representatives of the Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency (KFVA) took part in a 5-day international training course in the Republic of Slovakia from 5 to 7 September 2022.
This training consisted of 2 parts – training for market standards and training for the function of producer organizations. The group was composed of 5- participants from Kosovo who attended the international training course for 3 days and 2 days of additional training for producer organizations was provided for the group.
Part 1 – Marketing standards
The participation of representatives of the public sector of Kosovo in the international training “Harmonization of the assessment of the quality of fruits and vegetables” was a perfect opportunity for representatives of MAFRD and KFVA. Participation in a special training for marketing standards, was a new experience.
This training course has more than 20 years of history since 1996 and is under the official sponsorship of OECD and UNECE since 2005. The training course was provided to the public and private sector, to achieve harmonized interpretation of marketing standards by public inspection services and private stakeholders. Representatives from 18-20 countries, as well as the OECD and UNECE secretariats, participate in the ITC every year.
The ITC 2022 agenda was focused on the interpretation of marketing standards for onions, garlic, sweet peppers, passion fruit, potatoes and table grapes, presented by international experts.
During the ITC presentations by international experts were given on the impact of climate change and presentations on the benchmarking of marketing standards and the requirements of privacy standards.
ITC participants were tested on the knowledge gained during the training and certificates of participation were distributed at the end of the ITC.
Part 2- Training on the function of producer organizations
During the 3 days the following POs were visited:
- OP Zeleninarska – producer of vegetables and potatoes
- OP Bonum – fruit producer
- OP GreenCoop transnational – producer of tomatoes in greenhouses
The meetings with PO representatives gave the training participants the opportunity to receive relevant information on the historical background, problems encountered in the first years of the POs, the definition of the operational program and its implementation.