Market surveillance systems play a significant role in keeping markets safe and fostering trust among consumers and economic operators. Developed and effective market surveillance systems is a precondition for improving safety and compliance of products that are placed on the market, and consequently has great impact on protection of consumers.

This was concluded during the regional workshop within the GIZ project “Support to Regional Economic Integration”, which was held in Skopje, 08-09 March 2023.  Representatives from the Market Surveillance Authorities of CEFTA economies gathered with intention to open the discussion on developing a common understanding of specific actions aimed in enhancing the exchange of information through effective cooperation between market surveillance authorities. The workshop was organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Ilir Rexha, project manager, GIZ stated that information exchange and building up effective cooperation between the Market Surveillance Authorities from CEFTA Parties is essential for efficient, comprehensive, and consistent market surveillance in the region. “This will stimulate the development of a more harmonized system on market surveillance, which will allow reliable exchange of information on unsafe products found on the market. Agreements on structured and systematic information exchange will enable all CEFTA Parties to remove specific unsafe products from their markets and protect their consumers”, Rexha said.

Jerome Benausse from DG NEAR acknowledged the achievements of the meeting thanks to the constructive engagement of participants and with the support of the team of experts. He assessed that the findings of the questionnaire carried-out by the project among Market Surveillance Authorities of CEFTA parties provide a very useful baseline to strengthen exchange of information and cooperation among CEFTA parties in the area of industrial products safety.

This meeting is the continuation of the projects efforts to enhance information exchange and building up effective cooperation between the market surveillance authorities. It is also the opportunity to use the potential of existing expertise to reduce the existing gaps and challenges on non – safe products on CEFTA markets.

The Project aims to strengthen regional economic integration among the CEFTA Parties. In the area of quality infrastructure, it provides support to the CEFTA Parties in strengthening core aspects of the quality infrastructure systems in line with the EU acquis, to stimulate the free movement of industrial goods and to ensure fair competition and consumer protection through an improved market surveillance system.

GIZ Open Regional Fund for South – East Europe – Foreign Trade (ORF FT)