As an important step in the efforts of facilitating trade in fruit and vegetables in the region, a regional workshop was organized in order to assist the SPS officials in implementing the Proposal for facilitating trade of fruits and vegetables in line with the new EU regulation on plant health. The two-day workshop was organized on January 22-23 in Belgrade, Serbia.

As the Official Control Regulation 2017/625 of the EU came into force in December 2019, the Proposal for facilitating trade for fruit and vegetables was fully aligned with this document. The workshop was organized as a follow up of previous capacity building measures and the objective was to strengthen the technical competencies of plant heath regulators in the region needed for proper implementation of the Proposal and the new EU Regulations on Plant Health applicable as of 14 December 2019.